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ELEMENTS    OF    CHILD-PROTECTION 


THE   ELEMENTS    OF 
CHILD-PROTECTION 


BY 


SIGMUND   ENGEL 

DOCTOR   OF  LAWS  AND  OF   POLITICS  ;   OFFICIAL  GUAEDIAN   AND   ADVOCATE 
IN  BUDA-PESTH 


TRANSLATED    FROM    THE    GERMAN    BY 

DR.  EDEN   PAUL 


NEW   YORK 
THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

1912 


Printed  by  Ballantyne,  Hanson  6f  Co. 
At  the  Ballantyne  Press,  Edinburgh 


r: 


PREFACE 

During  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  import- 
ance of  child-protection  gained  a  far  wider  recognition. 

The    nineteenth    century    has    been    well    named     "  The 
Century    of    the    Child."      But    there    are    reasons    no    less 
cogent    for    describing    this    century    as    "  The    Century    of 
\>  Socialism,"  or  "  The  Century  of  Darwinism." 
,  The  intimate    interdependence    of    child-protection   with 

^  Socialism  and  with  Darwinism  must  on  no  account  be 
\  overlooked.  It  was  my  own  assurance  of  this  twofold 
;v  interdependence  which  led  me  to  undertake  the  study  of 
^^  the  whole  system  of  child-protection  from  the  joint  out- 
>•  look  of  Socialism  and  of  Darwinism.  This  book  is  an 
jj  investigation  of  all  the  problems  involved  by  child-protec- 
^  tion  from  the  standpoints  of  the  modern  socialist  movement 
^  and  of  modern  social  science. 

Q  My  work  makes  no  attempt  to  be  either  a  "  Philosophy 
6  of  Child-Protection "  or  a  "  Handbook  of  Child-Protection." 
For  this  reason  it  contains  no  definitions,  it  gives  no  history 
of  child-protection,  and  attempts  no  detailed  description  of 
the  institutions  which  exist  for  the  purpose  of  child-protection 
in  the  various  countries  of  the  civilised  world. 

In  view  of  the  almost  incalculable  bulk  of  the  materials 
available  in  this  field  of  study,  I  have  been  forced  to  content 
myself  with  a  brief  indication  of  my  opinions  in  the  various 
departments,  without  endeavouring  to  go  into  details.  Obvi- 
ously, therefore,  those  in  need  of  detailed  information  will  not 
find  it  in  this  book.  My  aim  has  rather  been  to  effect  a 
lucid    presentation  of    all   the   problems  of   child-protection, 


*i4:iJ•U4^^ 


vi  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

than  to  attempt  myself  to  supply  the  solution  of  all  these 
problems. 

If  I  have  been  successful  in  formulating  the  main  prob- 
lems of  my  subject,  and  if  at  the  same  time  my  discussions 
and  the  data  I  have  supplied,  enable  the  reader  to  draw  his 
own  conclusions  in  each  case,  my  aim  has  been  adequately 
fulfilled. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Preface         v 


GENERAL   PART 

CHAPTER   I 

CERTAIN  POPULATION  PROBLEMS 

Child-Protection  and  the  Population  Question — Fertility  of  the  Lower 

Classes — The  Tendency  of  Evolution 1 

CHAPTER   II 

STATISTICAL    PROBLEMS    OP    POPULATION 

Miscarriages,  Premature  Births,  and  Still-Births  —  Mortality  —  The 
Productive  Age  and  the  Unproductive  Age — Classification  of  the 
Population  according  to  Age — The  Excess  of  Women — Marriage — 
Illegitimate  Sexual  Relations .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .11 

CHAPTER   III 

CHILD    MORTALITY 

Statistical  Data  —  Certain  Contributory  Causes  —  The  Chief  Causes 
of  Infant  Mortality  —  The  Great  Number  of  Children  —  Child 
Mortality  in  the  Towns — The  Effect  of  Housing  Conditions — 
The  Effect  of  Age^ — Time  of  Birth,  Seasons,  and  Meteorological 
Conditions 17 

CHAPTER   IV 

THE    QUALITY    OF    THE    POPULATION  ;    ARTIFICIAL    SELECTION 
(eugenics)    AND    EDUCATION 

Natural  Selection  and  Artificial  Selection  —  The  Interests  of  the 
Future  Generation  —  Inheritance  and  Education  —  Nature  of 
Education — Character  of  the  Child — Limits  of  Educability — The 
Aim  of  Education  —  Good  Example  —  Confidence  and  Love  — 
Reward  and  Punishment — Education  by  the  Parents — Education 
in  different  Social  Classes — Parents,  School,  Environment — The 
Tendency  of  Evolution 25 


viii  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

CHAPTER  V 

PROS    AND    CONS    OF    CHILD-PROTECTION 

PAGB 

Introductory — Objections  to  Child-Protection — Objections  to  the  Care 
of  Foundlings — Darwinism  versus  Poor-Relief — Darwinism  versus 
Child-Protection — The  Right  View — Socialism  versus  Poor-Relief 
— Socialism  versus  Child-Protection — The  Right  View  ...       42 

CHAPTER   VI 

THE    EXECUTIVE    INSTRUMENTS    OF    CHILD-PROTECTION 

Introductory — Local  Governing  Bodies — The  Community  at  large — 
The  Central  Government — A  Unified  System  of  Laws  for  Child- 
Protection —  A  Centralised  Authority  for  Child-Protection  — 
Private  and  Official  Activities — The  Medical  Profession — Women       58 


SPECIAL   PART 
/?.— Department  of  Civil  Law  and  Individual  Rights 

CHAPTER    I 

MARRIAGE    AND    PARENTAL    AUTHORITY 

Introductory — Parental  Authority  and  Marriage— History  of  Mar- 
riage— Child-Protection  and  the  Family — Maternal  Authority — 
Fiduciary  Character  of  Parental  Authority  —  The  Elementary 
Principles  of  State  Interference  with  Parental  Authority  (the 
State  as  "  Over-Parent  ") 71 

CHAPTER   II 

MARRIAGE    AND    HEREDITY 

Heredity  in  General — Inheritance  of  Diseases — Individual  Diseases — 
The  Age  of  the  Parents — The  Marriage  of  Near  Kin — Disease  in 
the  Parents  from  the  Legal  Standpoint  —  Divorce  —  Marriage- 
Prohibitions  in  Past  Times — Proposed  Reforms — Objections — 
The  Right  View— How  to  Effect  Reforms— The  Tendency  of 
Evolution 77 

CHAPTER   III 

THE    PROTECTION    OF    ILLEGITIMATE    CHILDREN 

The  Legal  Position  of  the  Illegitimate  Child — Reasons  for  these  Legal 
Disabilities — Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  Illegitimate  Birth 
— Abortion,  Premature  Birth,  Still-Birth — Childbirth  in  Unmar- 


Contents  ix 

PAGE 

tied  Mothers  —  Causes  of  the  Great  Mortality  of  Illegitimate 
Children — Criminality  in  the  Illegitimate — Illegitimacy  and  Pro- 
stitution— Occupation  in  Relation  to  Illegitimacy — The  Different 
Classens  of  the  Illegitimate — Illegitimacy  and  Child-Protection  — 
The  Tendency  of  Evolution — A  Radical  Reform    ....       90 


CHAPTER   IV 

LIMITED    POWERS    OF    MINORS,  AND    GUARDIANSHIP 

Limited  Powers  of  Minors — The  Tendency  of  Evolution — Nature  of 
Guardianship — Guardianship  of  Poor  Children — Guardianship  of 
Illegitimate  Children — The  Defects  of  Individual  Guardianship — 
Nature  of  Official  and  Institutional  Guardianship — Advantages 
of  Official  and  Institutional  Guardianship — Objections  to  Collec- 
tive and  Institutional  Guardianship^These  Objections  Answered 
— The  Tendency  of  Evolution — Certain  Civil  Laws  which  are  of 
Importance  in  Relation  to  Child-Protection 106 


fi.— Department  of  Local  Administrative  Activity 
CHAPTER   I 

CHILD-PROTECTION    BEFORE,  DURING,  AND    IMMEDIATELY    AFTER 

BIRTH 

Introductory — Before  Birth — During  Birth — After  Birth — The  In- 
surance of  Motherhood — The  Tendency  of  Evolution     .         .         .118 

CHAPTER   II 

INFANT-LIFE    PROTECTION 

Introductory — Advantages  of  the  Natural  Feeding  of  Infants — His- 
tory of  Artificial  Feeding — Causes  of  the  Failure  to  Suckle — 
Wet-Nurses — Cow's  Milk — Other  Methods  of  Artificial  Feeding 
— Institutional  Care  of  Infants — The  Creche — Proposed  Reforms 
— Radical  Solution  of  the  Problem 125 

CHAPTER   III 

THE    CARE    OF    FOUNDLINGS,  WET-NURSING,  AND    BABY-FARMING 

Terminology — History  of  the  Care  of  Foundlings — The  Latin  System 
and  the  Germanic  System^ — Some  Modern  Methods  for  the  Care  of 
Foundlings — Foundling  Hospitals,  Wet-Nursing,  and  Baby  Farms 
— Institutional  Care  versus  Family  Care — Supervision  of  Family 
Care — Subsidiary  Aims  of  the  Care  of  Foundlings — The  Tendency 
of  Evolution     ...........     141 


X  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

CHAPTER   IV 
women's  labour  and  child-labour 

PAGE 

History  of  Child  Labour — Diffusion  of  Child  Labour — The  Causes  of 
Child  Labour — Women's  Labour — The  Consequences  of  Child 
Labour — The  Consequences  of  Women's  Labour — Regulation  of 
Child  Labour — Regulation  of  Women's  Labour — Reform  of  Ap- 
prenticeship— Enforcement  of  such  Regulations — Objections  to 
the  Protective  Regulation  of  the  Labour  of  Women  and  Children 
— These  Objections  Answered — Radical  Solution  of  the  Problem — 
The  Tendency  of  Evolution 155 

CHAPTER   V 

THE    PROTECTION    OF    CHILDREN    AGAINST   DISEASE 

Introductory — The  Health  of  Proletarian  Children — Causes  of  the 
Movement  for  the  Protection  of  Proletarian  Children — Institu- 
tions— Country  Holiday  Funds  and  Open-air  Schools — Proposed 
Reforms — Need  for  Enlightenment — The  Tendency  of  Evolution      178 

CHAPTER   VI 

THE  PUBLIC  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL 

Importance  of  the  Public  Elementary  School — Methods  of  Instruc- 
tion— The  General  Obligation  of  School  Attendance — The  Purpose 
of  the  Elementary  School — Instruction  versus  Education — Moral 
Instruction — General  Culture — Individuality — Beauty —  Know- 
ledge— Science — Home- Work — The  Exclusion  of  certain  Children 
— Rewards  and  Punishments  —  The  Constitutional  Element  — 
Parents  and  the  School — Sexual  Education — Religious  and  Moral 
Instruction — Physical  Education — Manual  Training — Prepara- 
tory Schools — Supervised  Playgrounds  for  Children  (Kinderhorte) 
— Increasing  Importance  of  the  Public  Elementary  School — Feed- 
ing of  School  Children — Care  of  Young  Persons  after  they  Leave 
School — The  Tendency  of  Evolution 185 


C— Department  of  Criminal  Law 
CHAPTER   I 

CRIMINALITY    IN    YOUTH 

Introductory — The  Causes  of  Criminality  in  Youth — The  Classical 
Criminal  Law  —  Gradual  Transformation  of  the  Classical 
Criminal  Law  —  Special  Legislation  dealing  with  Youthful 
Criminals  —  Proposals  bearing  on  the  Question  of  Criminal 
Responsibility  at  Different  Ages — The  Defects  of  our  Present 
Penal  Methods— The  Question  of  the  Capacity  for  Understanding 
the  Punishable  Character  of  Criminal  Offences — The  School — 
The  Reprimand — Flogging — The  Conditional  Sentence — The  In- 
determinate Sentence — Should  Punishiuent  be  rendered  more 
Severe  ?  —  The  Coercive  Reformatory  Education  of  Youthful 
Criminals — Institutional  Education  versus  Family  Education — 
Testing  Reform — The  Radical  Solution  of  the  Problem  .         .217 


Contents  xi 

CHAPTER   II 

PENAL    METHODS 

PAGE 

Conditions   of   To-day — Proposed   Reforms^Penal  Methods  in  the 

United  States  of  America 243 

CHAPTER   Til 

PROSTITUTION 

The  Causes  of  Prostitution — Prostitution  and  Child-Protection  .         .     249 

CHAPTER   IV 

PUNISHABLE  OFFENCES  AGAINST  CHILDREN 

The  Two  Groups — Infanticide — Abortion — The  Protection  of  Femi- 
nine Chastity — Maltreatment  of  Children — Suggested  Reforms    .     254 

Index 271 


ERRATUM 

Page  65,  line  6,  for  "  wet-nurses  "  read  "  midwives." 


GENERAL    PART 


CHAPTER  I 

CERTAIN  POPULATION  PROBLEMS 

Child-Protection  and  the  Population  Question.  —  In  the 
struggle  for  existence  among  the  nations,  that  nation  is  the 
victor  which  consists  of  the  greatest  number  of  individuals 
best  endowed  with  bodily,  mental,  and  moral  health. 

No  national  entity  can  resist  the  attacks  of  others  if  its 
numerical  strength  is  comparatively  small.  If  a  contest  takes 
place  between  two  nations  whose  numerical  strength  is  approxi- 
mately equal,  the  healthier  of  the  two  will  gain  the  victory. 

Even  in  prehistoric  times  a  minimal  degree  of  Child- 
Protection  was  indispensable  to  tribal  existence.  To  rear 
children  diminished,  indeed,  the  quantity  of  wealth  avail- 
able to  maintain  the  life  of  the  parents,  and  consequently 
rendered  even  more  difficult  than  before  the  struggle  with 
the  hostile  forces  of  nature.  None  the  less,  it  was  absolutely 
essential  to  rear  a  minimal  number  of  children.  A  sufficient 
number  of  boys  must  be  reared  to  maintain  the  ranks  of 
the  warriors  needed  for  the  protection  of  the  tribe  against 
the  attacks  of  its  neighbours;  and  since  tribal  wars  were 
unceasing,  the  number  requisite  to  replace  those  who  fell 
in  battle  was  considerable ;  girls  also  must  be  reared  in 
numbers  sufficient  to  be  the  mothers  of  the  required  number 
of  warriors.  But  it  was  against  the  tribal  interest  that  more 
children  than  these  should  come  into  the  world ;  and  it  was 
desirable  that  superfluous  infants  should  perish. 

The  most  important  factors  in  human  evolution  are  the 
quantity  and  the  quality  of  individual  human  beings.  Until 
quite  recently  it  is  only  upon  quantity  of  population  that  any 
stress  has  been  laid :  the  quality  of  the  population  has  been 
ignored ;  being  either  taken  for  granted,  or  regarded  as  de- 
pendent upon  chance  conditions.     The  problems  of  population 


4  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

were  not  recognised  as  quantitative  and  qualitative,  but  were 
believed  to  be  quantitative  merely.  Both  Socialism  and 
Child-Protection  have  intimate  associations  alike  with  the 
quantitative  and  with  the  qualitative  problems  of  population. 
Both  Socialism  and  Child-Protection  exert  a  powerful  in- 
fluence upon  the  quantity  and  the  quality  of  human  beings ; 
and  conversely  these  latter  react  no  less  powerfully  upon 
Socialism  and  Child-Protection. 

The  leading  aim  of  Child-Protection  is  to  prevent  the 
death  of  children  before  they  attain  an  age  at  which  they 
become  competent  to  contribute  directly  to  the  welfare  of 
society.  The  next  most  important  aim  of  Child -Protection 
is  to  ensure  that  the  individual  whose  life  has  been  preserved 
shall  not  become  useless  or  dangerous  to  society.  These  lead- 
ing aims  may  be  pithily  summarised  in  the  following  terms  : 
^  ,  )"  the  prevention  of  a  high  mortality-rate,"  and  "  the  preven- 
'  tion  of  a  high  criminality-rate."  The  main  factor  of  a  high 
mortality-rate  is  excessive  mortality  in  childhood;  and  the 
main  factor  of  a  high  criminality-rate  is  excessive  criminality 
in  childhood.  (The  rate  of  mortality  affects  the  quantitative 
element,  and  the  rate  of  criminality  affects  the  qualitative 
element,  of  the  race.) 

In  the  course  of  human  racial  history  certain  sentiments 
make  their  appearance  (parental  love,  altruism,  and  humanism), 
in  consequence  of  which,  even  among  nations  to  which  the 
fear  of  a  declining  population  is  no  longer  known,  actions 
endangering  the  health  or  the  life  of  children  come  to  be 
regarded  as  immoral  and  punishable ;  these  sentiments  sub- 
sequently constitute  the  main  foundations  of  Child-Protection. 
But  a  recognition  of  the  expediency  of  Child-Protection,  and 
a  desire  to  increase  the  population,  have  also  at  all  times 
exercised  a  very  great  influence  upon  the  degree  to  which 
methods  of  Child- Protection  have  been  adopted  and  enforced. 
In  any  community  in  which  an  increase  in  numbers  would 
involve  over-population,  an  individual  has,  ceteris  ■paribus,  less 
value  than  in  a  community  in  which  no  such  risk  has  to  be 
considered ;  for  this  reason,  in  the  latter  community,  more 
stress  will  be  laid  upon  Child-Protection  than  in  the  former 
community. 


Certain  Population  Problems  5 

The  following  examples  will  show  that  this  reasoning  is 
sound.  As  a  result  of  the  wide  acceptance  of  the  "  mercantile 
theory "  of  political  economy,  inasmuch  as  this  theory  laid 
much  stress  upon  the  importance  of  an  increase  in  popula- 
tion, the  care  of  foundlings  came  to  receive  much  more 
attention,  even  in  Protestant  countries.  Moreover,  though 
it  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  the  fierce  attack  made  by 
Malthus,  in  his  widely  celebrated  work  on  Tlie  Principles  of 
Population,  upon  the  Foundling  Hospitals  of  his  day,  was 
directed  especially  against  the  fact  that  these  institutions 
received  children  quite  unconditionally,  yet  it  is  also  perfectly 
true  that  Malthus's  views  regarding  Foundling  Hospitals 
harmonise  perfectly  with  his  ideas  as  to  the  possibilities  and 
dangers  of  over-population.  Although  some  authors  main- 
tain that  the  connection  we  have  pointed  out  obtains  only 
among  comparatively  uncivilised  peoples,  and  that  as  civilisa- 
tion progresses,  sentiment  alone  is  decisive  in  forming  our 
views  in  the  matter  of  Child-Protection,  those  who  advance 
such  a  contention  may  be  referred  to  the  example  of  modern 
France. 

The  following  conception  is  dominant  in  France.  It  is 
sad  but  true  that  the  number  of  bu'ths  hardly  shows  any 
excess  over  the  number  of  deaths — nay,  that  in  certain  years 
the  births  are  fewer  than  the  deaths ;  hence  it  happens  that 
the  population  of  the  other  states  of  Europe  increases  much 
more  rapidly  than  the  population  of  France.  It  is  essential 
that  something  should  be  done  to  counteract  this  difference, 
by  which  the  position  of  France  as  one  of  the  great  Powers 
of  Europe  may  ultimately  be  endangered.  Since  all  the  laws 
and  regulations  which  have  been  instituted  with  a  view  to 
increasing  the  birth-rate  have  remained  fruitless,  some  new 
method  must  be  found  of  bringing  about  a  more  marked 
excess  of  births  over  deaths.  Since  excessive  mortality  among 
children  is  the  principal  cause  of  a  high  death-rate,  the  State 
and  the  community  must  take  all  the  steps  in  their  power 
to  reduce  child  mortality  to  a  minimum. 

Fertility  of  the  Lower  Classes. — In  the  civilised  countries 
of  twentieth-century  Europe,  the  mean  birth-rate  is  about 
thirty ;   that   is,   for    every    thousand    inhabitants,   there    are 


6  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

thirty  births  each  year ;  France  is  far  below  this  mean,  with 
a  birth-rate  of  twenty-one,  and  Russia  far  above,  with  a  birth- 
rate of  about  forty-nine.  In  the  country  districts,  fertility 
and  the  birth-rate  are  greater  than  in  the  towns.  Transient 
variations  in  the  birth-rate  depend  upon  various  disturbing 
factors,  such  as  war,  civil  disorders,  and  rise  in  the  prices  of 
the  necessaries  of  life. 

The  lower  the  type  of  life,  the  greater  is  the  insecurity 
of  existence ;  and  it  is  necessary  that  this  should  be  counter- 
balanced by  greater  vigour  of  the  forces  of  reproduction, 
and  a  consequent  increase  in  the  number  of  the  offspring. 
Thus  differences  between  the  different  species  have  a  great 
influence  upon  the  procreativeness  of  these  species,  so  that 
there  is  a  direct  causal  connection  between  the  quality  of 
a  species  and  the  number  of  the  individuals  of  which  it  is 
made  up.  But  it  remains  in  dispute  whether  the  rise  (or 
fall)  in  the  quantity,  directly  gives  rise  to  a  decline  (or 
increase)  in  the  quality ;  whether,  within  the  limits  of  an 
individual  species,  the  quantitative  differences  between  the  in- 
dividuals making  up  that  species  are  of  importance ;  whether, 
within  the  limits  of  a  single  species,  the  individual  members 
are  more  fertile  in  proportion  as  they  stand  at  a  lower  level 
in  development ;  and,  finally,  whether  the  fertility  of  the  in- 
dividuals of  any  species  diminishes  as  the  species  advances 
in  its  evolution. 

As  regards  the  fertility  of  the  human  species,  the  decisive 
influences  are  not  physiological,  but  social.  The  view  that 
higher  brain  development  or  prolonged  intellectual  activity 
restricts  fertility  has  been  rightly  contested.  Undoubtedly, 
powerful  intellectual  activity  tends  to  inhibit  the  sexual 
impulse,  but  this  is  no  less  true  of  great  physical  exertions. 
The  causes  of  the  high  birth-rate  among  the  lower  classes  of 
the  population  are  the  following : — 

(a)  Members  of  the  proletariat  have  to  marry  earlier  in 
life  than  those  belonging  to  the  middle  and  the  upper 
classes. 

(&)  A  smaller  proportion  of  the  proletariat  suffers  from 
venereal  infection. 

(c)  Owing  to  the  overcrowded  condition  of  their  dwellings, 


Certain  Population  Pj'oblems  7 

those  belonging  to  tlie  poorer  classes  find  it  far  more  difficult 
to  observe  "  prudential  restraint." 

{d)  The  poor  make  less  use  than  the  well-to-do  of  positive 
methods  for  the  prevention  of  conception. 

(e)  To  those  belonging  to  the  poorer  classes,  to  have 
children  is  often  economically  advantageous.  A  child  can 
help  in  the  work  of  the  household,  and  can  early  engage 
in  some  occupation  enabling  it  to  contribute  towards  the 
expenses.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  case  of  the  compara- 
tively well-to-do,  a  large  family  involves  the  risk  of  a  depres- 
sion in  the  standard  of  life. 

(/)  Women  of  the  middle  and  upper  classes  are  far 
more  afraid  than  working-class  women  of  pregnancy  and 
childbirth.  They  actually  suffer  more  from  these  eventu- 
alities, because  their  sheltered  life  makes  them  weaker  and 
more  susceptible ;  in  many  cases  also  they  shirk  motherhood 
because  they  think  that  pregnancy  will  interfere  with  their 
"  social  duties." 

An  excessive  number  of  conceptions,  pregnancies,  and 
deliveries  is  harmful,  not  merely  from  the  outlook  of  the 
domestic  economist,  but  also  from  that  of  the  political 
economist.  If  the  aim  of  the  State  is  to  secure  a  population 
which  is  not  merely  numerous,  but  also  of  good  quality,  care 
must  be  taken  that  the  number  of  conceptions,  pregnancies, 
and  deliveries  shall  not  be  unduly  great ;  for  when  the 
number  of  births  is  exceedingly  large,  it  is  very  likely  that 
the  number  of  those  to  attain  maturity  will  actually  be  less 
than  if  the  birth-rate  had  been  lower. 

We  have  to  take  into  consideration,  not  only  the  dif- 
ference between  the  birth-rate  and  the  death-rate,  but  also 
the  important  matter  of  the  actual  number  of  births  and 
deaths.  Although  in  any  two  cases  the  terminal  results  may 
be  identical,  it  is  a  matter  of  grave  economic  moment  how 
the  figures  are  comprised  by  which  these  identical  results  are 
attained.  If,  to  effect  a  certain  increase  in  population,  a 
comparatively  large  number  of  births  and  deaths  has  been 
requisite,  there  has  been  an  enormous  waste  of  time,  energy, 
and  wealth. 

The  large   families   of  the  proletariat  provide   a  greater 


8  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

supply  of  labour,  and  this  leads  to  a  fall  in  wages.  Because 
wages  are  lower,  there  results,  in  turn,  an  increase  in  the 
birth-rate.  The  great  number  of  conceptions  among  the 
proletariat  interferes  with  the  effective  working  of  selective 
forces — an  evil  which  every  unprejudiced  thinker  must  deplore, 
and  must  endeavour  to  remedy  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability. 
The  most  important  means  available  for  this  purpose  are : 
first,  a  rise  in  wages,  and,  secondly,  the  use  by  the  proletariat 
of  positive  methods  to  restrict  or  prevent  procreation. 

Parents  should  procreate  so  many  children  only  as  they 
are  in  a  position  to  maintain  and  educate  in  a  suitable  manner ; 
it  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  working-class  families  should  be 
comparatively  small.  Yet  to-day  we  see  the  exact  opposite. 
Only  among  the  well-to-do  and  the  more  intelligent  sections 
of  the  population  do  we  find  that  these  principles  are 
carried  into  effect.  The  tragic  consequence  is  that  the  more 
prosperous  and  the  comparatively  intelligent  procreate  very 
few  children,  the  very  reverse  of  what  is  desirable.  Rich 
people  are  in  a  position  to  have  many  children,  and  have  but 
few ;  working-class  parents,  on  the  other  hand,  ought  to  have 
but  few  children,  and  they  have  a  great  many.  If  the  weekly 
wage-earners  were  more  prosperous  and  more  intelligent,  they 
would  be  in  a  position  to  have  more  children,  but  they  would, 
in  fact,  have  fewer  in  that  case. 

Tlie  Tendency  of  Evolution. — During  the  last  quarter  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  a  decline  in  the  birth-rate  set  in  in 
every  civilised  country  in  Europe,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  in  all  these  countries  the  proletariat  constitutes  an  ever- 
increasing  proportion  of  the  total  population.  The  probable 
causes  of  this  decline  are :  first,  women's  dread  of  pregnancy, 
of  childbirth,  and  of  rearing  children,  and,  secondly,  pelvic 
contraction  (?). 

The  death-rate  is  harder  to  control  than  the  birth-rate. 
For  the  birth-rate  is  influenced  to  a  far  greater  extent  by 
factors  which  are  under  individual  control ;  whereas,  in  the 
case  of  the  death-rate,  great  natural  forces  are  the  chief 
determinants.  Death  comes  to  every  one,  whether  his  parents 
and  other  relatives  desire  it  or  not,  but  those  only  are  born 
whose  parents  desire  it.     In   this  matter  of  the  population 


Certain  Population  Problems  9 

problem,  well-considered  action  will  be  directed  where  a 
result  may  be  obtained  with  comparative  ease.  By  this  it  is 
not  meant  to  imply  that  the  campaign  against  excessive 
mortality  is  to  be  altogether  neglected ;  but  rather  that  the 
campaign  against  an  excessively  high  birth-rate  demands 
more  attention  than  it  has  hitherto  received. 

The  tendency  of  evolution  to-day  is  to  effect  a  decline  in 
the  birth-rate.  In  the  future  far  more  attention  will  be  paid, 
than  has  been  paid  in  the  past,  to  the  demand  of  social 
hygiene  that  potential  parents  shall  be  careful  to  procreate 
healthy  children  only.  On  the  other  hand,  the  knowledge 
that  will  enable  parents  to  prevent  undesired  conceptions  will 
become  more  and  more  widely  diffused.  -In  times  to  come,  an 
ever-increasing  proportion  of  pregnancies  will  be  deliberately 
willed.-^ 

The  decline  in  the  birth-rate  will  necessarily  result  in  a 
decline  in  the  death-rate,  and  more  especially  in  a  decline  in 
the  death-rate  of  infants  and  children.  Ultimately,  we  shall 
see  a  decline,  not  merely  in  the  birth-rate  and  the  death-rate, 
but  also  in  the  difference  between  the  total  number  of  the 
births  and  of  the  deaths.  It  is  beyond  dispute  that  these 
figures  are  tending  to  become  less  variable  and  more  constant 
than  they  were  in  former  times. 


CHAPTER   II 

STATISTICAL   PROBLEMS   OF   POPULATION 

Miscarriages,  Premature  Births,  and  Still-Births. — The  stat- 
istical data  regarding  miscarriages,  premature  births,  and  still- 
births are  somewhat  untrustworthy.  There  is  no  general 
agreement  as  to  the  precise  signification  of  these  terms  among 
the  medical  practitioners,  coroners,  and  registrars  of  any  one 
country — not  to  speak  of  differences  in  these  matters  in 
different  countries ;  and  this  difficulty  applies  above  all  to 
the  matter  of  still-births.  In  some  countries,  children  dying 
during  the  act  of  birth  or  within  a  few  hours  after  birth  are 
regarded  as  born  alive,  but  in  others  as  still-born.  When  we 
are  comparing  the  birth-rate  and  the  death-rate  in  different 
countries,  these  causes  of  error  must  not  be  forgotten. 

In  the  twentieth  century,  in  the  civilised  countries  of 
Europe,  the  premature  births  vary  between  5  and  9  per  cent., 
and  the  still-births  between  3  and  4  per  cent.,  of  all  births. 
For  every  100  still-born  girls  there  are  approximately  130 
still-born  boys.  Among  the  lower  classes  of  the  population, 
still-births  are  more  frequent  than  among  the  upper  classes. 
Within  the  same  class,  such  births  are  more  frequent  among 
those  living  in  unfavourable  conditions  than  among  those 
more  favourably  situated ;  and  in  manufacturing  towns  they 
are  more  frequent  than  in  agricultural  districts.  The  pro- 
portion is  affected  by  the  age  of  the  mother,  and  still-births 
are  at  a  minimum  among  mothers  at  ages  from  20  to  25  years. 
In  the  course  of  time,  notwithstanding  the  gigantic  develop- 
ment of  manufacturing  industry,  and  in  spite  of  the  more 
accurate  registration  of  still-births,  the  proportion  of  such 
births  has  diminished ;  the  principal  reason  for  this  is  the 
advance  in  medical  science. 

Mortality. — In  the  civilised  countries  of  Europe  the  death- 


12  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

rate  in  the  twentieth  century  varies  between  15  and  32  per 
mille.  Amonsr  the  chief  causes  of  transient  variations  in  the 
death-rate  are  :  war,  civil  disorders,  and  rise  in  prices.  A  rise 
in  the  price  of  the  necessaries  of  life  affects  the  lower  classes 
of  the  population  more  especially,  but  its  influence  upon  the 
general  death-rate  is  trifling.  Death-rate  varies  in  accordance 
with  occupation.  The  lower  classes  have  a  higher  death-rate 
than  the  upper  ;  the  weekly  wage-earners  have  a  higher  death- 
rate  than  the  rest  of  the  population ;  and  mortality  is  greater 
in  the  towns  than  it  is  in  the  country.  Of  late  years,  there 
has  been  a  gradual  decline  in  the  death-rate,  the  decline  in 
the  towns  being  proportionately  greater  than  the  decline  in  the 
country  districts ;  in  this  case  also  the  decline  must  be  attri- 
buted mainly  to  the  advance  in  medical  science. 

The  Productive  Age  and  the  Unproductive  Age. — The  dis- 
tinction of  the  productive  age  from  the  unproductive  age  is 
a  matter  of  great  importance.  The  former  extends  from  the 
age  of  1 5  to  the  age  of  6  5  ;  the  latter,  the  unproductive  age, 
comprises  the  years  before  the  age  of  15  and  those  after  the 
age  of  65.  Certain  other  classifications  of  the  population, 
such  as  the  distinction  of  those  of  an  age  for  school-attendance 
from  those  at  other  ages  (those  of  the  former  age  comprising 
about  one-sixth  of  the  population),  and  the  distinction  between 
youthful  and  adult  criminals,  are  of  no  interest  in  relation  to 
our  special  inquiry. 

Classification  of  the  Population  according  to  Age. — In  the 
civilised  countries  of  modern  Europe,  persons  at  ages  of  0  to 
10  comprise  about  24  per  cent,  of  the  population;  those  at 
ages  10  to  20  comprise  about  20  per  cent. ;  and  those  at  ages 
20  to  30  comprise  about  16  per  cent,  of  the  population. 
Those  under  the  age  of  15  years  comprise  about  30  per  cent, 
of  the  population,  each  year  of  life  corresponding  to  from 
2  to  3  per  cent. ;  infants  (those  under  1  year)  making  up  3 
per  cent.,  and  each  year  of  life  after  that  only  a  little  more 
than  2  per  cent.  At  all  ages  under  15  the  boys  are  more 
numerous  than  the  girls. 

The  age-pyramid  of  the  population  has  a  form  which 
depends  upon  the  birth-rate.  When  the  birth-rate  is  higher, 
or  the  excess  of  births  over  deaths  greater,  the  base  of  the 


Statistical  Problems  of  Population  1 3 

pyramid  is  comparatively  wide.  Thus,  in  the  majority  of  the 
civiHsed  states  of  Europe,  about  3  0  per  cent,  of  the  population 
consists  of  those  under  1 5  years  of  age ;  but  in  France,  where 
the  birth-rate  is  exceptionally  low,  those  under  15  years  of 
age  comprise  a  much  smaller  proportion  of  the  total  population. 

In  the  country  districts,  the  age -class  of  the  children  and 
the  age-class  of  the  old  both  contain  proportionately  larger 
numbers  than  the  same  age-classes  in  the  towns.  In  the 
large  towns  and  the  manufacturing  districts,  there  is  an 
especially  large  proportion  of  persons  of  about  20  years  of  age. 
There  are  three  reasons  for  this :  first,  the  birth-rate  is  higher 
in  the  country  districts ;  secondly,  there  is  a  drift  from  the 
country  to  the  towns  of  persons  of  an  age  to  earn  a  living; 
and,  thirdly,  a  proportion  of  those  who  have  grown  old  in  the 
towns  find  their  way  back  to  the  country. 

The  Excess  of  Women. — All  the  civilised  countries  of 
twentieth-century  Europe  contain  more  women  than  men. 
For  every  1000  males  there  are  invariably  more  than  1000 
females.  The  excess  of  females  is  not  usually  greater  than 
5  per  cent.  Only  in  certain  uncivilised  countries  of  Europe 
do  we  find  no  excess  of  females.  Whether  we  compare  the 
total  female  population  with  the  total  male  population,  or 
compare  only  males  and  females  of  a  marriageable  age,  the 
result  is  the  same ;  the  females  are  always  in  excess.  Even 
in  those  countries  in  which  women  are  comparatively  less 
numerous,  we  still  find  an  excess  of  women  of  a  marriageable 
age. 

This  excess  of  women  depends  upon  the  following  causes : — 
In  civihsed  countries  more  boys  are  born  than  girls.  The 
average  excess  of  male  births  over  females  is  106  :  100.  (In 
the  case  of  illegitimate  children,  the  excess  of  male  births 
is  not  so  great  as  in  the  case  of  legitimate  children.)  But  in 
males  the  death-rate  is  much  higher  than  it  is  in  females. 
Especially  high  is  the  death-rate  among  male  infants  (in  the 
first  year  of  life),  and  among  males  during  the  ages  at  which 
they  are  competent  to  earn  a  livelihood.  The  reason  given 
for  the  higher  mortality  of  male  infants  is  that  their  powers 
of  resistance  are  inferior  to  those  of  female  infants ;  during 
the  productive  years  of  life  the  death-rate  of  males  is  higher 


14  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

because,  on  the  one  hand,  they  have  a  far  greater  mortality 
than  women  from  diseases  of  occupation,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  during  this  period  of  life  males  suffer  far  more  than 
females  from  the  effects  of  alcoholism,  of  criminality,  and  of 
various  other  factors  exercising  an  unfavourable  influence  upon 
their  death-rate. 

Thus  the  excess  of  women  is  closely  associated  with  that 
peculiarity  of  the  modern  system  of  production  in  virtue  of 
which  far  more  men  than  women  are  engaged  in  the  work 
of  production.  This  is  obvious  from  the  consideration  that 
the  death-rate  of  wage-earning  women  is  higher  than  that  of 
other  women,  and  from  the  consideration  that  in  great  towns 
the  ratio  between  the  death-rates  of  the  respective  sexes  is 
very  different  from  what  it  is  in  the  country  districts.  The 
excess  of  women  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  failure  of  so  many 
women  to  marry,  of  the  birth  of  so  many  illegitimate  children, 
of  the  wide  diffusion  of  prostitution,  &c.  But  it  would  be  quite 
erroneous  to  attribute  these  various  phenomena  of  our  sexual 
life  exclusively  to  the  prevalent  excess  of  women. 

If  in  any  country  we  desire  to  diminish  the  excess  of 
women,  it  is  necessary  not  merely  to  lessen  the  emigration 
of  males,  but  also  to  diminish  the  death-rate  of  male  children. 
This  may  be  effected  by  reducing  infant  and  child  mortality  in 
general,  for  measures  that  accomplish  this  reduction  will  lower 
the  death-rate  of  boys  to  a  greater  extent  than  the  death-rate 
of  girls ;  for  the  higher  the  death-rate  the  greater  the  effect 
we  can  produce  by  measures  effecting  its  diminution.  Hence 
child-protection,  the  principal  means  for  the  diminution  of 
infant  and  child  mortality,  is  not  only  an  important  part  of 
our  campaign  against  the  excessive  mortality  of  male  children, 
but  will  tend  to  redress  the  existing  numerical  inequality 
between  the  sexes,  and  thus  to  ameliorate  the  conditions  of 
our  social  life. 

The  regulation  of  the  birth  of  boys  and  girls  (the  deter- 
mination of  sex)  would  be  an  important  means  for  the 
restoration  of  a  proper  numerical  balance  between  the  sexes, 
and  would  therefore  be  of  value,  not  merely  to  interested 
individuals,  but  also  to  society  at  large.  Unfortunately,  con- 
temporary science  is  not  even  in  a  position  to  ascertain  the 


Statistical  Proble^ns  of  Population  1 5 

sex  of  the  infant  before  birth ;  and  still  less  are  we  in  possession 
of  such  a  knowledge  of  the  determinants  of  sex  as  might 
enable  us  to  procreate  boys  or  girls  at  will.  Should  the 
astounding  advance  in  medical  science  eventuate  in  the  solu- 
tion of  this  problem,  it  will  then  be  in  our  power  to  restore 
the  proper  numerical  balance  of  the  sexes. 

Marriage. — In  the  civilised  countries  of  modern  Europe 
the  number  of  marriages  per  1000  inhabitants  of  all  ages  is 
from  6  to  8  ;  whilst  for  every  1000  inhabitants  of  a  marriage- 
able age  the  annual  marriage  rate  is  50.  Of  1000  men  over 
15  years  of  age  from  400  to  700  are  married,  whilst  of  1000 
women  over  15  years  of  age  from  440  to  640  are  married. 
A  high  marriage-rate  is  not  ftr  se  either  a  favourable  or  an 
unfavourable  manifestation;  it  is  dependent  upon  economic 
conditions,  and  transient  variations  in  the  marriage-rate  arise 
from  the  favourable  or  unfavourable  economic  conditions  of 
the  year  in  which  these  variations  occur. 

In  consequence  of  the  enormous  development  of  the 
manufacturing  industries,  there  has  been  a  great  increase  in 
the  numbers  of  those  engaged  in  these  industries ;  a  large 
proportion  of  farm  servants  has  been  transformed  into  wage- 
earners  of  the  towns.  Since  men  of  this  latter  class  commonly 
marry  young,  whereas  a  comparatively  small  proportion  of 
farm-servants  marries,  an  increase  in  the  marriage-rate  has 
been  noticeable  during  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. But  since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  a  decline 
in  the  marriage-rate  has  become  perceptible,  and  the  causes 
of  this  decline  are  more  difficult  to  ascertain.  During  the 
nineteenth  century  the  divorce-rate  underwent  a  continuous 
increase.  The  divorce-rate  is  higher  in  towns  than  in  the 
country,  and  higher  in  thickly  populated  than  in  thinly  popu- 
lated countries. 

Illegitimate  Sexual  Relations. — Except  as  regards  the  birth  of 
illegitimate  children,  the  only  statistical  data  available  regard- 
ing illegitimate  sexual  relations  are  those  which  have  been 
obtained  by  private  inquiries.  The  following  are  the  most 
important  statistics  bearing  on  this  question.  The  annual 
number  of  illegitimate  births  in  Europe  exceeds  600,000. 
In  most  European  countries  the  illegitimate  births  constitute 


1 6  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

from  8  to  9  per  cent,  of  the  total  births,  and  in  every  large 
country  in  Europe  the  illegitimate  number  several  millions. 
From  privately  collected  statistics  we  learn  that  in  all  civilised 
countries  the  great  majority  of  unmarried  mothers  belong  to 
the  working  classes  and  to  the  class  of  domestic  servants;  in 
many  countries  more  than  80  per  cent,  of  unmarried  mothers 
may  be  thus  classified.  If  from  the  number  of  illegitimate 
children  we  wish  to  deduce  the  probable  number  of  unmarried 
mothers,  we  have  always  to  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  an 
unmarried  mother  commonly  has  one  child  only,  whilst  married 
women  have  on  the  average  from  three  to  four  children.  We 
learn  from  private  statistics  that  of  the  fathers  of  illegitimate 
children  not  more  than  about  45  per  cent,  belong  to  the 
proletariat. 

The  relationship  between  the  number  of  illegitimate  births, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  number  of  legitimate  births  and  the 
number  of  marriages,  on  the  other,  is,  on  one  view,  the  follow- 
ing. The  greater  the  number  of  marriages,  the  smaller  will 
be  the  number  of  illegitimate  births ;  the  greater  the  average 
age  at  marriage,  the  greater  also  will  be  the  number  of  illegiti- 
mate births.  It  is,  indeed,  extremely  probable  that  a  high 
marriage-rate  leads  to  a  low  illegitimate  birth-rate,  and  con- 
versely ;  but  we  are  not  justified  in  regarding  such  a  causal 
sequence  as  unquestionable.  Variations  in  the  marriage-rate 
and  in  the  illegitimate  birth-rate  may  be  the  joint  consequences 
of  other  common  factors. 


CHAPTER   III 

CHILD   MORTALITY 

Statistical  Data. — The  statistics  relating  to  child  mortality 
are  in  an  exceptionally  well-developed  state,  and  no  unpre- 
judiced student  of  sociology  can  afford  to  ignore  them.  The 
literature  of  child  mortality  contains  a  number  of  extremely 
important  and  thoroughly  trustworthy  works ;  the  reason  for 
this  may  be  that,  in  comparison  with  other  difficult  problems 
of  population,  the  study  of  questions  of  child  mortality  is 
easier,  because  various  disturbing  influences  which  complicate 
adult  death-rates  have  no  bearing  upon  child  mortality. 

Even  simpler  is  the  question  of  infant  mortality. ^  In 
computations  dealing  with  this  matter  it  is  not  necessary  to 
make  use  of  the  figures  of  the  general  census,  for  the  calcula- 
tions are  based  simply  upon  the  recorded  births  and  deaths. 
The  calendar  year  in  which  the  birth  took  place  does  not 
come  directly  into  the  question  at  all.  AVhat  we  record  is 
the  rate  per  thousand  at  which,  in  or  during  a  particular 
year,  say  1909,  infants  have  died  before  attaining  the  end  of 
the  first  year  of  their  life ;  some  of  these  will  have  been  born 
in  the  year  1909,  others,  of  course,  in  the  year  1908. 

Nearly  30  per  cent,  of  all  deaths  are  infant  deaths; 
about  1 0  per  cent,  of  all  deaths  are  those  of  children  of  ages 
one  to  five  years;  about  50  per  cent,  of  all  deaths  are  those 
of  children  from  birth  to  fifteen  years.  The  least  dangerous 
section  of  human  life  is  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  fifteen 
years.  Child  mortality,  extremely  heavy  during  the  year  of 
infancy,  diminishes  greatly  after  the  completion  of  the  first 

^  In  this  work  the  term  infant  is  used  to  denote  all  children  under  one  year 
of  age  ;  where  reference  has  to  be  made  to  infancy  in  the  legal  sense  of  a  person 
under  twenty-one  years  of  age,  the  term  i7ifant-at-la2v  or  minor  will  be  employed- 
— Translatok. 

''  B 


1 8  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

year,  and  diminislies  enormously  after  the  completion  of  the 
fifth  year.  In  the  civilised  countries  of  Europe,  at  the  end  of 
the  nineteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century, 
of  every  1000  infants,  from  100  to  300  die,  on  the  average, 
every  year.  The  attainable  minimum  of  infant  mortality, 
under  conditions  practically  realisable  to-day,  may  be  regarded 
as  about  70  per  1000,  In  families  in  which  exceptionally 
favourable  conditions  prevail,  the  infant  mortality  rate  is  even 
lower  than  the  figure  just  stated ;  in  the  families  of  the 
higher  aristocracy  and  among  the  royal  houses  it  is  as  low 
as  one-half,  and  even  as  low  as  one-third,  of  this  "  practicable 
minimum  "  of  70  per  1000. 

Since  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  has, 
in  nearly  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  been  a  decline  in 
infant  mortality,  in  the  case  alike  of  boys  and  of  girls ;  this 
fall  in  the  infantile  death-rate  is  greater  than  the  fall  in 
the  general  death-rate.  Although  the  data  available  justify 
this  general  statement,  it  is  necessary  to  point  out  that 
authentic  statistical  data  bearing  on  the  question  exist  only 
in  the  case  of  small  and  isolated  areas,  such  as  individual 
towns ;  national  registration  of  such  particulars  is  of  much 
more  recent  date  than  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Certain  Contributory  Causes. — The  influence  upon  infant 
mortality  of  certain  causes  commonly  regarded  as  important  is 
in  fact  small.  Statistical  data  prove  beyond  dispute  that  local 
and  climatic  factors  exercise  no  direct  influence  at  all  upon 
the  infantile  death-rate;  such  influence  as  these  factors  do 
exercise  is  an  indirect  one,  operating  through  the  effect  which 
climate  and  locality  may  have  upon  social  conditions.  The 
same  qualification  applies  to  the  influence  of  race  and  of 
religion  upon  infant  mortality.  There  are  differences  in  the 
infantile  death-rates  as  between  Teutons  and  Slavs,  and  as 
between  Christians  and  Jews;  but  these  differences  are  in  no  way 
directly  dependent  upon  the  difl'erences  in  race  or  in  religion, 
and  they  must  be  ascribed  to  the  differences  in  social  condi- 
tions. Fertility  is  well  known  to  exert  a  decisive  influence 
upon  infant  mortality ;  but  variations  in  fertility  are  not  the 
direct  effect  of  any  differences  in  race  or  creed ;  they  are  a 
consequence  of  the  varying  social  conditions  in  which  those  of 


Child  Mortality  1 9 

the  respective  races  or  creeds  actually  live.  Thus  it  is  only 
in  certain  social  conditions  that  Slavs  are  more  fertile  than 
Teutons,  and  Jews  more  fertile  than  Christians.  The  con- 
stitution of  the  parents  exercises  a  considerable  influence  upon 
infant  mortality;  but  the  parental  constitution  must  be 
regarded  as  largely  dependent  upon  the  social  environment 
in  which  the  parents  themselves  have  grown  to  maturity. 

The  Chief  Causes  of  Infant  Mortality. — Among  the  com- 
monly enumerated  conditions  affecting  infant  mortality  the 
following  are  conspicuous :  the  proportion  of  infants  reared  by 
artificial  feeding  instead  of  being  suckled ;  work  for  wages  by 
the  mothers  of  infants ;  the  general  intelligence  of  the  lower 
classes  of  the  population,  and  their  knowledge  of  the  care 
and  management  of  infants ;  the  general  state  of  the  public 
health,  including  such  conditions  as  the  degree  to  which  the 
general  population  is  enabled  to  avail  itself  of  the  medical 
knowledge  of  our  time  (in  all  the  countries  claiming  to  be 
"  civilised,"  bald  official  statistics  prove  beyond  dispute  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  children  dying  before  attaining  the 
age  of  one  year  die  without  having  ever  received  any  medical 
treatment  whatever) ;  the  number  of  illegitimate  births,  &c. 
But  all  these  conditions  are  in  essence  nothing  more  than 
social  conditions.  Thus  we  are  practically  justified  in  saying 
that  the  determining  factors  of  infant  mortality  are  social 
conditions  and  nothing  else.  With  striking  unanimity,  those 
who  have  made  a  special  study  of  this  question  formulate  the 
conclusions  summarised  in  the  following  paragraph. 

The  infantile  death-rate  is  higher  among  the  lower  classes 
than  it  is  among  the  upper.  Within  the  limits  of  those 
making  up  what  are  termed  "  the  lower  classes,"  the  infantile 
death-rate  is  higher  in  proportion  as  the  social  conditions  are 
unfavourable.  The  figure  attained  by  the  infantile  death-rate 
depends  above  all  upon  the  social  circumstances  and  the 
earning  capacity  of  the  parents.  Inasmuch  as  an  infant 
does  not  possess  the  faculty  of  spontaneous  change  of  place 
or  of  other  spontaneous  activity,  since  it  is  unable  even  to 
express  its  needs  in  an  intelligible  manner,  its  fate  depends 
upon  the  soil  in  which  it  grows — its  very  life  depends  upon  its 
environment.     Such,  from  the  social  standpoint,  is  the  essen- 


20  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

tial  characteristic  of  the  age  of  infancy.  The  infant  born  of 
well-to-do  parents  has  better  chances  of  life  than  the  infant 
born  of  poor  parents,  for  the  former  lives  in  more  favourable 
circumstances,  and  receives  in  every  respect  a  better  upbring- 
ing. It  is  a  demonstrable  fact  that  most  children  that  die 
succumb,  not  from  inherited  weakness,  but  owing  to  the  errors 
and  defects  of  their  upbringing. 

The  materials  available  in  proof  of  this  proposition  are 
ample  and  incontrovertible.  Whatever  the  place,  the  time, 
and  the  other  conditions  submitted  to  investigation,  and 
whether  the  investigated  materials  be  large  or  small,  we  are 
led  invariably  to  the  same  conclusions.  In  the  bourgeois 
(middle  and  upper)  classes,  only  8  per  cent,  of  the  children 
die  during  the  first  year  of  life,  but  among  the  proletariat 
the  infantile  death-rate  is  30  per  cent.  Even  more  signifi- 
cant, if  possible,  are  the  following  facts.  The  infantile  death- 
rate  is  higher  among  illiterate  wage-earners  than  it  is  among 
literate  wage-earners ;  it  is  higher  among  casual  labourers 
than  it  is  amongst  wage-earners  permanently  occupied.  In 
the  strata  of  the  population  above  the  manual  workers,  we 
find  that  the  infantile  death-rate  is  lower  as  we  pass  from 
strata  in  which  social  conditions  are  comparatively  bad  to 
strata  in  which  they  are  comparatively  good.  The  infantile 
death-rate  and  the  income  of  the  parents  vary  in  inverse 
ratio.  The  differences  in  the  infantile  death-rate  as  we  pass 
from  the  poorer  quarters  of  our  towns  to  the  richer  quarters 
tell  always  the  same  tale. 

The  Great  Niiinher  of  Children. — The  chief  cause  of  high 
infant  mortality  and  of  high  child  mortality  among  the  lower 
strata  of  the  population  is  the  great  size  of  their  families. 
The  number  of  conceptions,  pregnancies,  and  births  varies 
directly  as  the  infantile  death-rate.  If  out  of  a  certain  limited 
income  more  children  have  to  be  maintained,  the  share  of 
each  in  the  commodities  purchasable  out  of  that  income 
necessarily  diminishes.  The  income  of  the  manual  worker  is 
so  small  that,  even  if  his  famil}^  is  quite  a  small  one,  it  is 
exceedingly  diiiicult  for  him  to  provide  out  of  that  income 
what  he  and  his  wife  and  children  need  for  the  satisfaction  of 
elementary  vital  needs.     With  every  additional  child  comes  a 


Child  Mortality  21 

further  limitation  of  supplies  for  each  individual  member  of 
the  family.  Not  only  does  this  have  a  directly  unfavourable 
influence  upon  health,  inasmuch  as  each  child  receives  a 
smaller  share  of  dwelling-room,  food,  &c.  In  addition,  as 
more  and  more  children  are  born,  the  worth  of  the  individual 
child  in  the  eyes  of  the  parents  diminishes. 

The  mother's  health  is  apt  to  suffer  from  the  rapid  succes- 
sion of  conceptions,  pregnancies,  and  deliveries.  For  various 
reasons  this  is  disadvantageous  to  the  children.  A  woman 
thus  affected  will  subsequently  bring  more  weakly  children 
into  the  world ;  the  mother  whose  health  is  poor  is  unable 
to  give  as  much  time  and  pains  to  the  rearing  of  her  children 
as  she  would  if  she  were  well  and  strong ;  many  women  whose 
health  has  been  broken  by  unduly  frequent  pregnancies  die 
during  a  subsequent  pregnancy  or  delivery. 

But  may  it  not  be  that  the  relationship  between  a  large 
number  of  births  and  a  high  infantile  death-rate  is  the  reverse 
of  that  which  we  have  suggested  ?  Is  it  not  possible  that  the 
great  mortality  among  children  may  be  the  cause  of  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  conceptions,  pregnancies,  and  births  ?  It  is 
true  that  certain  purely  psychological  factors  may  contribute 
to  such  a  causal  sequence.  To  a  certain  degree  a  high  infan- 
tile death-rate  has  such  an  effect.  For  if  a  woman  gives  birth 
to  a  diseased  or  a  still-born  child,  or  if  one  of  her  children 
dies,  the  parents  are  more  likely  than  would  otherwise  be  the 
case  to  desire  to  have  another  child,  and  the  wife  will  be  more 
ready  to  undertake  the  troubles  of  another  pregnancy  and  the 
risks  of  another  delivery. 

The  most  important  means  for  the  diminution  of  child 
mortality  is  to  improve  the  conditions  of  working-class  life. 
It  is  indisputable  that  the  more  prosperous  members  of  the 
working  class  have  fewer  children  on  the  average  than  those 
who  are  not  so  well  off;  that  in  any  region  in  which  an 
improvement  has  taken  place  in  the  conditions  of  working- 
class  life  a  fall  in  the  birth-rate  has  ensued ;  that  the  poorer 
the  condition  of  any  stratum  of  the  proletariat,  the  larger  is 
the  average  family.  An  increase  in  the  average  working-class 
income  will  lead  to  a  proportionately  greater  decline  in  the 
death-rate  of  infants  and  young  children.     For  this  increase 


2  2  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

in  income  will  operate  in  two  ways :  in  tlie  first  place,  if  the 
number  of  children  remain  the  same,  the  rise  in  income  will 
ensure  for  each  child  a  larger  share  of  the  necessaries  of  life ; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  with  the  rise  in  income  the  size  of 
the  average  family  will  diminish,  and  this  will  reduce  the 
child  mortality.  Inasmuch  as  the  height  of  the  infantile 
death-rate  depends  mainly  upon  the  great  infant  mortality 
among  the  lower  strata  of  the  population,  every  effort  at 
reform  in  this  direction  must  begin  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
social  scale. 

Child  Mortality  in  the  Toions. — A  connection  appears  to 
exist  between  density  of  population  and  the  death-rate :  if  the 
other  conditions  remain  unchanged,  the  death-rate  increases 
pari  passu  with  increasing  density  of  population.  The  question 
whether  in  the  towns  child  mortality  is  higher  than  in  the 
country  districts  has  not  yet  been  decisively  answered ;  and  it 
is  equally  uncertain  whether  from  the  hygienic  standpoint  the 
existing  rural  conditions  are  better  than  the  urban.  It  appears 
probable  that  child  mortality  is  higher  in  the  towns  than  in 
the  country  districts ;  it  is  more  doubtful,  however,  if  the 
same  can  be  said  of  infant  mortality.  The  statistical  data 
available  on  this  question  must  be  subjected  to  a  stringent 
critical  examination.  The  infant  mortality  which  truly  belongs 
to  the  towns  appears  smaller  than  it  really  is,  for  the  reason 
that  a  proportion  of  the  infants  born  in  the  towns  are  placed 
in  the  care  of  foster-parents  living  in  the  country,  and  some  of 
these  die  in  the  country.  It  is  equally  true  that  many  people 
from  the  country  die  in  hospitals  and  other  institutions  in 
the  towns ;  but  this  applies  much  more  to  adults  than  to 
children. 

The  proletariat  constitutes  a  large  majority  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  urban  districts;  the  proportion  of  artificially 
reared  children  is  greater  than  in  the  countr}^  the  housing 
conditions  are  less  favourable,  there  is  less  opportunity  for 
open-air  life,  venereal  diseases  are  more  prevalent,  and  fertility 
is  lower.  But  against  these  considerations  we  must  set  the 
fact  that  the  urban  population  is  more  intelligent,  and  for 
this  reason  better  understands  the  various  methods  of  artificial 
feeding  of  infants ;  the  fact  that  charitable  institutions  are  more 


Child  Mortality  23 

effective  in  the  towns,  and  the  fact  that  in  the  towns  better 
hygienic  conditions  prevail.  The  sanitary  improvement  of  the 
towns  by  better  cleansing  of  the  streets,  an  improved  water 
supply,  better  methods  of  disposing  of  sewage  and  refuse,  &c., 
has  led  to  a  reduction  not  merely  of  the  general  urban  death- 
rate,  but  also  of  the  infantile  urban  death-rate ;  whereas  in 
the  country  districts  these  rates  have  remained  stationary,  or 
have  even  undergone  an  increase.  In  wealthy  towns  the 
death-rate  is  lower  than  in  poor  towns;  like  differences  are 
observed  as  between  the  rich  and  the  poor  quarters  of  one 
and  the  same  town.  Wealth  has  so  marked  an  influence  in 
lowering  infant  mortality  that  in  the  wealthy  villa  quarters  of 
large  towns  the  infantile  death-rate  may  be  as  low  as  from  10 
to  20  per  mille. 

The  Effect  of  Housing  Conditions. — The  infantile  death-rate 
is  very  closely  connected  with  the  character  of  the  housing 
conditions.  The  rate  of  infant  mortality  in  any  particular 
dwelling  varies  directly  with  the  number  of  inhabitants,  and 
varies  inversely  with  the  number  of  rooms  available  per  family. 
Those  living  in  the  upper  stories  of  tenement  houses  have  a 
higher  death-rate  than  infants  living  in  lower  stories  and  base- 
ments. This  influence  of  bad  housing  conditions  in  producing 
a  rise  in  the  infantile  death-rate  is  only  to  be  expected.  The 
habitation  exercises  its  influence  upon  the  infant  by  day  and 
by  night,  and  through  every  detail  of  the  infant's  life.  To 
give  one  instance,  there  is  an  intimate  connection  between  the 
quality  of  the  dwelling  and  the  quality  of  the  infant's  food ; 
in  a  suitable  dwelling  milk  may  be  more  readily  kept  cool, 
preserved  from  contamination,  sterilised,  &c. 

The  Effect  of  Age. — The  degree  to  which  bad  conditions 
of  life  endanger  health  varies  inversely  with  the  age.  The 
maximum  danger  to  health  from  such  conditions  is  incurred 
by  infants.  The  younger  the  infant  the  greater  the  danger 
that  bad  conditions  will  prove  fatal ;  and  most  of  the  environ- 
mental factors  unfavourable  to  the  maintenance  of  infant  life 
come  into  operation  immediately  after  birth.  The  younger  the 
infant,  the  less  resistant  it  is  to  external  influences.  Therefore 
the  younger  the  infant,  the  more  carefully  does  it  need  to  be 
watched   and   safeguarded.     Physicians   and   statisticians   lay 


24  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

great  stress  upon  the  degree  to  which  the  infant's  chances  of 
life  depend  upon  its  age  in  days  and  months. 

Time  of  Birth,  Seasons,  and  Meteorological  Conditions. — Is  it 
possible  to  demonstrate  the  existence  of  any  connection  between 
the  time  of  birth  and  the  temporal  variations  in  the  infantile 
death-rate  ?  In  the  months  in  which  the  number  of  births  is 
high,  the  infantile  death-rate  is  probably  also  higher  than  at 
other  times.  This  is  true  more  especially  of  the  very  cold 
months,  when  infants  cannot  be  taken  freely  into  the  open 
air ;  it  is  true  also  of  the  very  hot  months.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  annual  curve  of  births  exhibits  two  notable  elevations 
— one  in  February  and  March,  and  the  other  in  September ; 
this  depends  on  the  fact  that  most  conceptions  take  place,  on 
the  one  hand,  in  the  spring-time — that  is,  at  the  time  of  the 
general  awakening  of  nature ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  in 
December,  w^hen  nature  reposes,  and  agricultural  labours  are 
at  a  standstill.  But  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  factors 
influencing  infant  mortality  are  so  numerous  and  variable, 
it  is  not  possible  to  demonstrate  any  definite  relationship 
between  the  times  of  maximum  births  and  the  times  of 
maximal  infantile  death-rate. 

The  seasons  and  the  meteorological  conditions  exert  an 
influence  upon  infant  mortality  through  the  intermediation 
of  their  effect  upon  various  social  conditions.  The  infantile 
death-rate  is  highest  during  the  summer,  the  rate  in  the 
months  of  July,  August,  and  September  greatly  exceeding 
that  in  the  other  months  of  the  year.  During  the  hot  season, 
contaminated  and  decomposing  milk  gives  rise  to  fatal  illness 
on  all  sides.  When  we  compare  different  years,  we  find  that 
the  height  of  the  infantile  death-rate  varies  directly  with  the 
heat  of  the  summer.  This  influence  of  the  hot  season  is 
exerted  almost  exclusively  upon  artificially  reared  infants,  and 
especially  on  those  in  whom  the  technique  of  artificial  feeding 
is  improper.  It  is  an  established  fact  that  the  children  of  the 
well-to-do  largely  escape  a  similar  fate,  simply  because  that  in 
their  case  it  is  possible  to  keep  the  milk  artificially  cool,  and 
to  prepare  it  more  carefully  in  other  ways. 


< : 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   QUALITY   OF   THE   POPULATION;   ARTIFICIAL 
SELECTION   (EUGENICS)   AND   EDUCATION 

Natural  Selection  and  Artificial  Selection. — The  selective 
method  practised  by  Nature  works  by  means  of  the  pro- 
creation of  millions  of  individuals,  and  by  the  subsequent 
elimination  of  those  individuals  which  are  imperfectly  or  not 
at  all  adapted  to  their  environing  conditions ;  that  is  to  say, 
natural  selection  operates  repressively  or  destructively.  Arti- 
ficial selection,  on  the  other  hand,  aims  at  preventing  the 
procreation  of  individuals  inadequately  adapted  to  their  en- 
vironment ;  it  deliberately  eliminates  those  elements  which 
are  useless  to  society,  or  which  can  be  utilised  by  society 
only  at  excessive  cost :  thus  artificial  selection  is  a  preventive 
method. 

Natural  selection  is  cruel  and  uneconomic.  As  far  as  the 
human  species  is  concerned,  natural  selection  is  not  essential 
to  our  advance  towards  perfection ;  it  is  even  to  a  considerable 
extent  superfluous.  In  the  case  of  humanity,  racial  improve- 
ment remains  possible  even  in  the  absence  of  a  relationship 
between  the  numbers  of  the  species  and  the  available  means 
of  subsistence  so  unfavourable  as  to  necessitate  a  fierce  strugsfle 
for  existence.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  human  evolution,  such 
an  unfavourable  relationship  between  the  numerical  strength 
of  the  species  and  the  supply  of  the  means  of  subsistence  was 
perhaps  a  cause  of  racial  advance ;  but  to-day  such  a  relation- 
ship would  be  nothing  but  a  hindrance  to  progress.  For  the 
human  species  to-day,  the  significance  of  natural  selection  is 
historical  merely ;  the  future  belongs  to  artificial  selection. 
The  device  for  humanity  must  be,  "  Not  Natural  Selection,  but 
Artificial  Selection — Eugenics  !  " 

The  Interests  of  the  Future  Generation. — The  attitude  of  our 

25 


26  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

present  legal  system  towards  actions  likely  to  be  injurious 
to  the  interests  of  future  generations  is  a  quite  erroneous 
one.  We  concern  ourselves  solely  with  the  interests  of  the 
contemporary  generation ;  the  interests  of  future  generations 
are  left  entirely  to  chance ;  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that  when- 
ever a  conflict  of  interests  arises,  the  well-being  of  our 
descendants  is  unhesitatingly  sacrificed.  In  our  present  laws 
it  is  difficult  to  point  to  a  single  provision  for  the  pro- 
tection of  subsequent  generations  against  the  result  of  the 
sexual  irrationality  and  the  excessive  sexual  egoism  of  our 
contemporaries. 

Bodily  injury  of  one  human  being  by  another  is  a  punish- 
able offence.  "But  the  man  affected  with  alcoholism  or 
syphilis  who  procreates  a  child  incurs  no  punishment  what- 
ever, although  the  consequences  of  the  latter's  action  are  far 
more  serious.  To-day  hardly  any  attention  is  paid  to  the 
question  of  what  qualities  are  desirable  in  the  parents  in  order 
to  ensure  the  procreation  of  offspring  well  equipped  for  a 
happy  and  useful  life.  In  the  breeding  of  plants  and  animals, 
definite  rules  are  followed,  in  order  to  secure  the  progressive 
improvement  of  the  species  concerned.  But  who  trouble 
themselves  about  conscious  selection  for  the  improvement  of 
the  human  species  ? 

The  view  will  ultimately  prevail  that  the  strong  only  are  of 
value  to  society,  and  that  every  weak  member  of  the  community 
involves  a  definite  social  loss.  It  will  be  generally  understood 
that  large  families  are  not  advantageous,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
not  quantity  but  quality  that  really  matters.  The  day  will 
come  in  which  fatherhood  and  motherhood  will  be  permitted 
only  to  the  strong,  and  in  which  every  endeavour  will  be 
made  to  prevent  the  birth  of  diseased  and  weakly  individuals. 
As  far  as  the  "  protection  "  of  a  great  many  children  is  con- 
cerned, the  method  that  will  be  adopted  will  be  to  prevent 
their  ever  coming  into  the  world.  In  the  future,  we  shall 
know  better  than  we  know  to-day  which  children  are  com- 
petent to  grow  up  into  useful  members  of  society ;  and  those 
buds  which  fail  to  attain  this  standard  will  be  pruned  away. 

Beyond  question,  it  will  not  be  long  before  it  will  be 
generally  understood  that  the  proper  application  of  eugenist 


The  Quality  of  the  Population  27 

principles  to  the  human  species  will  be  secured,  not  so  much 
by  coercion,  as  by  enlightenment.  But  for  this  very  reason 
it  will  become  of  enormous  importance  to  popularise  the 
elements  of  educational  science  and  of  the  hygiene  of  child- 
hood, to  effect  the  sexual  enlightenment  of  children  and  of 
adults,  and  to  secure  the  diffusion  of  sound  ethical  ideas.  It 
will  be  taught  that  actions  injurious  to  the  interests  of  future 
generations  are  immoral,  and  some  of  them  will  even  be  made 
punishable  offences.  Steps  will  also  be  taken  to  ensure  as  far 
as  possible  that  only  those  individuals  shall  marry  whose 
offspring  may  be  expected  to  be  healthy. 

In  regard  to  all  these  problems,  the  acquirements  of 
medical  science  are  of  enormous  importance ;  for  it  is  upon 
the  acquirements  of  positive  science  that  legislation  dealing 
with  such  matters  must  be  based.  Unfortunately,  however, 
the  medical  science  of  our  o^vn  day  is  not  always  in  a  position 
to  give  a  decisive  and  satisfactory  answer  in  respect  of  the 
various  problems  just  stated ;  and  suitable  legislation  on  these 
matters  must  be  deferred  to  the  future,  when  guidance  may 
be  anticipated  from  the  inevitable  progress  of  medical 
science. 

Inheritance  and  Eclucatio7i. — In  human  beings,  as  in  other 
animals,  an  improvement  in  the  inborn  capacities  is  possible. 
At  the  present  time  we  are  content  to  take  children  as  we  find 
them,  and  we  simply  endeavour  by  education  to  make  every 
child  into  a  useful  member  of  society.  But  only  through 
influences  affecting  hereditary  qualities  can  the  material  of 
future  generations  be  improved,  and  a  humanity  be  brought  into 
being  better  equipped  than  we  are  for  the  tasks  of  civilisation. 
Enduring  human  progress  can  be  effected  only  by  the  simul- 
taneous study  and  application  of  the  laws  both  of  education 
and  of  heredity.  As  by  selection  the  hereditary  equipment  is 
improved,  the  limits  of  what  is  attainable  by  means  of  educa- 
tion will  also  be  extended. 

Even  to-day,  heredity  and  education  commonly  co-operate 
in  the  same  direction,  for  in  most  cases  the  two  influences  are 
exercised  by  the  same  personalities.  Parents  of  fine  quality 
tend  to  procreate  children  of  like  quality,  and  also  to  give  these 
same  children  an  exceptionally  good  upbringing ;  contrariwise. 


28  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

degenerate  parents  tend  to  procreate  degenerate  children,  and 
to  bring  them  up  badly. 

Nahire  of  Education. — The  inherited  character  of  human 
bemgs  is  not  a  unitary  whole,  but  consists  of  different  parts. 
Unless  this  were  so,  man  would  speedily  succumb  in  the 
struggle  for  existence;  for  it  depends  upon  the  circum- 
stances in  which  he  finds  himself,  which  parts  of  his 
inherited  character  undergo  a  necessary  development.  Just 
as  nature  brings  into  existence  an  enormous  number  of 
living  beings,  and  then,  by  the  mechanism  of  the  struggle 
for  existence,  selects  for  survival  those  individuals  which  are 
best  adapted  to  the  environmental  conditions,  so  in  the 
inherited  human  character  there  exist  available  for  the 
influences  of  education  thousands  of  rudimentary  capacities, 
and  it  is  the  particular  environmental  conditions  which  deter- 
mine which  of  these  capacities  are  cultivated  and  developed, 
and  which  are  allowed  to  undergo  atrophy. 

Among  these  environmental  conditions  are  the  deliberate 
processes  of  education,  which  also  select  certain  capacities  for 
special  cultivation,  and  allow  others  to  atrophy  or  disappear. 
The  latter  part  of  this  process  takes  place  in  accordance  with 
the  natural  law,  that  every  organ  which  is  left  unused  under- 
goes atrophy,  and  may  even  altogether  disappear.  The  task 
of  education  does  not  presuppose  any  alteration  in  the  in- 
herited character.  On  the  contrary,  the  educator  utilises  the 
existence  of  the  various  inherited  characteristics  in  such  a 
way  that  he  makes  those  qualities  he  wishes  to  develop  take 
the  field  against  those  he  wishes  to  suppress. 

The  inherited  character  contains  certain  possibilities  of 
development.  If  it  were  fixed  and  unalterable,  education 
would  be  entirely  unthinkable.  In  the  practical  work  of  educa- 
tion we  have  to  reckon  with  the  fact  that  there  are  present 
in  every  child  certain  developmental  factors,  constituting  the 
pre-conditions  of  the  development  which  that  child  will 
subsequently  undergo ;  that  in  the  course  of  growth  the 
character  undergoes  extensive  alterations;  finally,  also,  that 
the  child's  character  is  something  very  different  from  that  of 
the  adult,  Education  is  thus  seen  to  consist  of  the  influences 
exerted   upon   the    character    by   the    application    of   certain 


The  Quality  of  the  Population  29 

external  factors ;  it  is  a  selection  from  the  entire  complex 
of  inborn  capacities  and  inborn  tendencies. 

Character  of  the  Child. — The  view  that  the  child  possesses 
all  the  vices  and  all  the  peculiarities  of  the  criminal  is  as 
erroneous  as  the  opinion  that  the  criminal,  owing  to  the 
arrest  of  mental  development,  remains  for  ever  a  child,  and 
that  he  is  one  in  nature  with  the  savage  who,  unaffected 
by  conditions  of  time  or  place,  preserves  unchanged  the  type 
of  humanity  in  the  childhood  of  our  race.  As  yet  no  proof 
has  ever  been  supplied  of  the  hypothesis,  that  concealed 
within  the  child's  nature  lies  the  tendency  to  do  evil.  But 
it  is  an  incontestible  fact  that  the  child  entirely  lacks 
power  to  withdraw  itself  from  harmful  influences,  and  that 
if  criminal  inclinations  are  artificially  implanted  in  the 
child,  they  will  infallibly  develop  if  no  counteracting  influ- 
ences come  into  play.  The  child  is  a  virgin  soil,  which 
will  in  due  course  bring  forth  good  fruit  or  bad  fruit 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  tillage ;  at  birth  the  child 
is  qualitatively  and  quantitatively  incomplete ;  but  all  the 
faculties  are  there  in  embryo,  and  ready  for  their  further 
development.  The  smaller  the  circle  of  ideas,  the  stronger 
will  be  the  influence,  the  greater  will  be  the  effect,  of  any  new 
idea  that  enters  this  circle.  In  the  child,  above  all,  the  circle 
of  ideas  is  so  small,  that  every  new  idea  will  constitute  a  quite 
appreciable  fraction  of  all  the  ideas  that  already  exist. 

Limits  of  Educalility. — Education  is  able  to  develop  the 
useful  capacities  and  qualities  of  human  bemgs,  and  to  repress 
those  capacities  and  qualities  that  are  useless  and  harmful ; 
but  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  education  to  develop  qualities 
and  capacities  of  which  the  germs  do  not  previously  exist  in 
the  child.  Even  the  best  education  is  incompetent  to  improve 
a  character  which  is  congenitally  altogether  bad,  or  to  do 
anything  for  a  child  whose  character,  though  congenitally 
good,  has  been  completely  corrupted  by  evil  influences. 

Unfortunately,  science  is  not  yet  sufiiciently  advanced  to 
enable  us  to  determine  with  absolute  certainty  which  children 
are  educable.  As  long  as  our  knowledge  of  this  matter 
remains  defective,  society  must  undertake  the  fruitless  educa- 
tion of  such  children. 


30  Ele^nents  of  Child-Protection 

Educability  depends,  first  of  all,  upon  the  inherited  dis- 
positions of  the  brain  ;  when  the  deviations  from  the  average 
in  this  respect  are  considerable,  we  have  to  do  with  a  diseased 
brain.  According  to  the  kind  and  the  degree  of  the  deviation, 
we  distinguish  several  groups  of  mental  abnormality  occurring 
in  childhood,  namely : 

(a)  Morbid  psychical  (psychopathic)  constitutions. 

(&)  Congenital  feeble-mindedness  (debility). 

(c)  Fully  developed  and  well-marked  mental  disorders. 

In  the  first  group  we  find  a  number  of  morbid  changes  far 
less  severe  in  character  than  those  comprising  groups  (&)  and 
(c) ;  these  are  commonly  curable,  provided  only  treatment  is 
begun  in  early  childhood.  It  is  absolutely  essential  that  such 
cases  should  be  cured  if  possible :  for  unless  this  is  effected, 
in  most  cases  (and  especially  when  they  belong  to  the  poorer 
classes  of  society)  the  males  become  habitual  vagrants,  whilst 
the  females  adopt  a  life  of  prostitution.  Numerous  inquiries 
have  established  the  fact  that  a  strikingly  large  proportion  of 
tramps  and  other  vagabonds  were  from  childhood  upwards  of 
a  psychopathic  constitution. 

The  number  of  those  exhibiting  mental  abnormality  has 
notably  increased  in  recent  times,  but  this  increase  does  not 
affect  those  suffering  from  true  insanity.  Many  of  those  who 
in  adult  life  exhibit  symptoms  of  mental  abnormality  do  so 
as  a  result  of  the  psychopathic  constitution,  and  in  many  such 
cases  the  troubles  of  adult  life  might  have  been  prevented  by 
judicious  measures  during  childhood.  In  cases  belonging  to 
group  (J),  comprising  persons  suffering  from  congenital  feeble- 
mindedness, the  possibility  of  education  depends  entirely  upon 
the  degree  of  mental  debility.  In  cases  belonging  to  group  (c) 
education  is  impossible.  The  question  of  ineducability  is  of 
importance,  above  all,  in  relation  to  the  possibilities  of  a 
coercive  reformatory  education.  The  possibility  that  attempts 
at  education  may  prove  altogether  fruitless  must  never  be 
lost  sight  of;  for  although  it  is  an  established  fact  that 
mentally  abnormal  children  usually  need  a  coercive  reforma- 
tory education,  in  the  case  of  children  whose  mental  abnor- 
mality exceeds  certain  limits,  even  such  an  education  is 
impracticable.     In  these  cases  also  the  rule  applies,  that  the 


The  Quality  of  the  Population  31 

prospects  of  success  are  greater  the  earlier  the  matter  is  taken 
in  hand. 

The  Aim  of  Education. — What  is  the  aim  of  education  ? 
Should  we  seek  to  educate  the  child  for  society ;  or  should  it 
be  our  primary  aim  to  cultivate  the  inborn  capacities  of  the 
child  ].  The  value  of  the  individual  depends  upon  two 
factors,  upon  the  capacities  and  qualities  he  has  inherited, 
and  upon  the  capacities  and  qualities  he  has  acquired. 
Education  must  not  attend  exclusively  to  one  group  or  to 
the  other,  but  must  deal  with  both  groups  harmoniously. 
The  child  must  be  taught  to  adapt  itself  to  all  possible 
circumstances  and  conditions ;  at  the  same  time  it  must 
receive  an  education  suited  to  its  own  capacities  and  endow- 
ments. In  the  character  of  every  child  there  exist  the  germs 
of  individuality.  Whether  it  is  normal  or  abnormal,  whether 
it  is  a  foundling  or  not,  whether  it  is  educated  by  its  parents 
or  at  school,  in  the  family  or  at  an  institution,  it  must  be 
educated  m  accordance  with  the  needs  of  its  own  individuality. 
The  educationalist's  device  should  be— individualisation. 

The  greatest  delight  of  every  individual,  whether  child  or 
adult,  is  to  be  occupied  in  accordance  with  its  own  inclinations, 
and  to  be  treated  by  others  in  a  manner  suited  to  its  own 
peculiar  tendencies.  This  perhaps  depends  upon  one  of  the 
primary  laws  of  physics,  that  motion  takes  place  in  the 
direction  of  least  resistance.  Individualisation  in  education 
is  an  exceedingly  difficult  matter ;  and  yet  it  is  less  difficult 
than  appears  at  first  sight.  Differences  in  individual  character 
are  far  less  extensive  than  is  generally  believed,  and  it  is  an 
error  to  suppose  that  the  character  of  every  child  differs  in 
important  respects  from  that  of  every  other.  It  is  an  im- 
possible aim  of  education  to  make  every  child  a  being  with  a 
well-marked  individuality.  If  the  differences  were  too  great 
between  those  whose  education  is  completed — that  is,  between 
those  grown  persons  Avho  play  their  parts  in  ordinary  human 
intercourse,  such  intercourse  would  be  less  extensive  and 
more  difficult  than  it  now  is. 

The  child  must  be  educated  in  such  a  way  that  its  actions 
are  not  instinctive  and  uncontrolled,  but  consciously  pur- 
posive and  self- controlled  ;  but  at  the  same  time  the  educa- 


o^ 


Elements  of  Child- Protection 


tionalist  must  guard  against  the  danger  of  making  the  child 
into  a  will-less  puppet.  It  has  frequently  been  observed  that 
obedient  children  are  unlikely  to  grow  up  into  men  of  any 
particular  note,  the  reason  being  that  they  are  accustomed 
to  do  only  what  they  are  told,  and  have  never  learned  to  act 
on  their  own  initiative. 

Knowledge  is  a  mighty  weapon,  but  it  is  one  which  can 
be  used  either  to  good  purpose  or  to  ill,  and  it  is  'per  se  neither 
moral  nor  immoral.  Knowledge  is  Power,  but  it  is  not  Virtue. 
It  is  not  the  ability  to  read  and  to  write  which  matters ;  the 
important  question  is,  what  one  reads  and  what  one  writes. 
Among  those  who  can  neither  read  nor  write,  we  find  many 
who  are  extraordinarily  rich  in  practical  experience.  This  is 
to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  those  who  can  read  and  write 
are  able  to  gain  impressions  indirectly  as  well  as  directly, 
whilst  illiterate  persons  are  entirely  dependent  upon  their  own 
direct  experience  of  life. 

Among  the  causes  of  crime,  illiteracy  by  no  means  plays 
so  important  a  part  as  is  generally  believed.  For  this  reason, 
when  we  are  studying  the  condition  of  any  particular  country, 
we  must  avoid  laying  too  great  a  stress  upon  the  percentage  of 
illiterates  among  its  population.  The  number  of  illiterates  de- 
pends in  part  also  upon  the  proportions  of  persons  at  various 
ages,  inasmuch  as,  m  reckoning  the  percentage  of  illiterates 
to  the  general  population,  those  under  school  age  are  left  out 
of  the  account. 

By  no  means  is  it  the  aim  of  education  to  provide  general 
culture.  The  State  cannot  possibly  insist  that  every  indi- 
vidual should  devote  himself  to  the  acquirement  of  general 
culture,  for  the  most  talented  person  is  at  times  unable  to 
earn  his  own  living.  In  the  struggle  for  existence,  general 
culture,  taken  by  itself,  is  utterly  useless. 

Good  Example. — The  phenomena  which  the  child  has 
opportunities  for  observing  exercise  a  great  influence  upon 
its  development.  Although  the  view  that  the  child  imitates 
everything  instinctively  is  erroneous,  it  is  unquestionable  that 
education  will  prove  successful  only  in  cases  in  which  the 
personality  of  the  child's  teacher  is  one  which  puts  a  good 
example    before  the  child's  eyes.     It  is  not  enough  merely 


The  Quality  of  the  Population  33 

to  instruct  a  child  verbally.  It  is  essential  that  the  child 
should  see  that  the  teacher  himself  practises  all  which  is 
theoretically  asserted  to  be  right  and  admirable. 

Confidtnce  and  Love. — Authority  and  compulsion  are  im- 
portant factors  of  education ;  but  those  take  the  wrong  path 
who  attempt  to  influence  the  child  by  means  of  authority 
and  compulsion  alone.  For  individualisation  in  education 
the  device  should  be,  Confidence  and  Love.  These  mean  to 
the  child  what  sunshine  means  to  the  plant :  without  sun- 
shine, the  plant  lags  behind  in  its  growth,  and  ultimately 
perishes ;  but  in  the  sunshine  it  flourishes  abundantly. 

Beward  and  Punishment. — The  view  that  neither  reward  nor 
punishment  should  be  employed  as  instruments  of  education 
is  erroneous,  for  unquestionably  both  have  considerable  influ- 
ence upon  human  activities  and  intercourse.  The  only  matter 
really  open  for  consideration  is,  what  should  be  the  nature 
of  the  rewards  and  the  punishments  to  be  employed,  and 
what  should  be  the  method  of  their  application  ?  It  is  wrong 
to  punish  or  reward  a  child  so  often  that  either  becomes 
habitual.  The  teacher,  who  is  in  most  cases  the  accuser  and 
the  injured  person  (since  a  child's  wrong  actions  are  apt  to 
take  the  form  of  offences  against  an  instructor),  should  not 
also  assume  the  office  of  a  judge  against  whose  decision  there 
is  no  appeal,  and  the  office  of  executioner.  Above  all,  the 
time  -  honoured  system  whereby  every  childish  offence  is 
expiated  by  deliberately  inflicted  physical  pain  must  be 
abandoned. 

The  corporal  punishment  of  children  is  certainly  harm- 
ful, {a)  Corporal  punishment  is  injurious  to  the  child's 
health.  In  former  times  this  objection  had  perhaps  less 
weight,  for  the  child's  constitution,  and  especially  the  child's 
nervous  system,  were  then  less  sensitive  than  they  are  to-day. 
(5)  Corporal  punishment  gradually  makes  the  child  quite 
indifferent  to  the  handling  and  making-use  of  its  body.  In 
many  instances,  either  in  the  chastiser  or  in  the  chastised,  or 
in  both,  it  gives  rise  to  sexual  excitement.  It  is  especially 
dangerous  for  girls,  whom  it  is  apt  to  prepare  for  a  life  of 
prostitution,  (c)  Corporal  punishment  has  a  coarsening  and 
hardening    influence    both    on    teacher    and    on   child.     The 


34  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

teacher  tends  ever  more  and  more  to  give  way  to  his  im- 
pulses, and  thereby  becomes  a  disastrous  example  for  the 
child,  {d)  Corporal  punishment  breaks  the  child's  will,  and 
induces  a  sense  of  degradation  which  is  greater  in  proportion 
to  the  intensity  of  the  child's  own  self-respect,  ie)  Corporal 
punishment  makes  a  child  hypocritical  and  deceitful,  and 
gives  it  a  hint  to  be  wilier  the  next  time.  For  ultimately 
the  idea  is  formed  in  the  child's  mind  that  it  has  been 
punished,  not  for  committing  a  fault,  but  because  it  has 
been  found  out. 

Punishment  should  always  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
strengthen  as  much  as  possible  those  inner  forces  and  im- 
pulses through  whose  weakness  the  liability  to  the  punish- 
ment has  been  incurred.  On  no  account  whatever  should 
the  punishment  be  such  as  will  encourage  in  the  child's 
mind  the  belief  that  the  act  for  which  it  is  punished  was, 
after  all,  one  it  had  a  right  to  do.  If,  for  example,  a  child 
has  injured  a  servant,  it  should  be  punished  by  making  it 
relieve  the  servant  of  some  portion  of  the  latter 's  work.  If 
the  child  has  injured  any  one,  it  is  not  a  suitable  punishment 
for  the  teacher  to  inflict  direct  injury  on  the  child,  for  this 
would  merely  encourage  the  latter  to  believe  that  the  strong 
are  justified  in  inflicting  injury  on  the  weak. 

Education  hy  the  Parents. — Throughout  nature,  wherever 
the  young  of  any  animal  have  to  live  through  a  prolonged 
period  of  imperfectly  protected  immaturity,  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  parent-animals  to  bring  up  their  oft'spring.  Above  a 
certain  level  in  the  animal  scale,  this  duty  is  universal.  The 
lower  in  the  scale  any  species  of  animal,  the  more  rapidly  do 
the  young  of  that  species  attain  maturity ;  conversely,  the 
higher  the  stage  of  development  of  any  species,  the  longer 
is  the  period  of  immaturity,  and  the  longer  are  the  children 
dependent  upon  their  parents.  This  rule  applies  to  human 
beings  also,  and  the  relationships  above  described  obtain 
among  the  diff'erent  varieties  and  races  of  mankind.  Of  all 
new-born  animals,  none  is  so  helpless  as  man ;  and  of 
all  animals,  his  period  of  immaturity  is  the  longest.  The  period 
of  upbringing  lasts  longer  in  man  than  in  other  animals, 
the   human  young   are   longer  dependent   on    their    parents, 


The  Quality  of  the  Population  35 

and  the  parents  themselves  in  the  human  species  are  more 
long-lived  than  the  parents  of  most  other  species  of  animals. 

The  younger  the  individual  human  being,  the  more  de- 
pendent is  it  upon  others.  An  infant  cannot  continue  to 
exist  at  all  without  external  help.  Its  only  needs  at  first, 
indeed,  are  for  food,  drink,  sleep,  and  cleansing ;  but  the 
older  it  is,  the  more  complex  is  the  care  it  demands.  As 
the  age  of  the  human  individual  increases,  the  more  do  its 
needs  continue  to  enlarge.  The  younger  the  human  being, 
the  more  dependent  is  it  upon  parental  care,  and  more  par- 
ticularly upon  maternal  care ;  and  the  more  helpless  the 
offspring,  the  more  does  the  educational  influence  of  the 
mother  exceed  in  importance  that  of  the  father. 

The  view  that  the  natural  province  of  work  of  the  father 
is  to  provide  the  means  of  subsistence  for  himself  and  his 
family,  while  the  mother's  work,  on  the  other  hand,  is  to 
care  for  the  children,  is  erroneous.  It  is  not  merely  unneces- 
sary for  the  mother  to  spend  all  her  time  with  her  child, 
but  such  a  course  of  action  imposes  an  excessive  strain  upon 
her,  and  has  a  dulling  effect.  It  is  also  a  false  view  that 
only  those  women  properly  fulfil  their  duties  as  wives  and 
mothers  who  devote  their  whole  time  to  the  upbringing  of 
their  children  and  to  the  cares  of  their  household. 

The  influence  of  the  parents  upon  the  child  is  a  very 
powerful  one,  because  child  and  parents  are,  as  it  were, 
syntonised  through  hereditary  dispositions  and  tendencies. 
Oscillations  of  character  in  the  parents  spontaneously  initiate 
oscillations  of  character  in  the  child,  but  in  this  syntonic  in- 
fluence there  may  subsist  a  very  great  danger.  The  healthier 
the  parents,  and  the  better  suited  they  are  to  one  another, 
the  better  are  the  dispositions  the  children  inherit  from  them, 
and  thereby  the  children  are  fitted  to  receive  a  better  edu- 
cation. Among  the  lower  animals,  parents  educate  their 
offspring  solely  in  accordance  with  the  dictates  of  instinct. 
For  the  upbringing  of  the  human  young,  the  guidance  of 
human  instinct  is  inadequate ;  educational  aptitudes  and 
special  educational  knowledge  are  also  indispensable.  Normal 
human  parents  may  desire  to  give  their  children  the  best 
possible  education ;  but  in  many  instances  they  do  not  know 


36  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

themselves  what  the  best  education  is ;  and  even  if  they  do 
know  this,  they  will  be  unable  to  provide  such  an  education 
by  their  own  unaided  efforts,  and  will  be  dependent  upon 
others  for  the  upbringing  of  their  own  children.  It  is  quite 
impossible  for  anyone  to  follow  a  trade  or  profession,  to  super- 
vise the  management  of  a  household,  and  at  the  same  time  to  be 
the  instructor  of  his  or  her  own  child.  For  this,  parents  lack 
the  requisite  time  and  energy.  As  time  goes  on,  the  principle 
of  the  division  of  labour  comes  more  and  more  into  applica- 
tion ;  it  is  in  accordance  with  this  principle  that  the  education 
of  children  should  be  entrusted  to  professional  educationalists. 

Education  in  Different  Social  Classes. — The  education  re- 
ceived by  an  individual  is  determined  mainly  by  the  class  to 
which  that  individual  belongs.  In  every  industrial  state,  the 
degradation  of  the  working-class  families  becomes  apparent. 
The  wages  of  the  manual  workers  are  very  small ;  and  owing 
to  illness,  strikes,  lock-outs,  and  commercial  crises,  even  this 
small  income  diminishes  from  time  to  time,  or  may  entirely 
cease.  Insecurity  is  the  keynote  of  the  working  man's 
economic  existence.  The  consequences  of  this  insecurity 
are  ill-humour  and  embitterment,  which  find  expression  for 
the  most  part  in  domestic  life.  The  place  of  work  is  often 
far  removed  from  the  dwelling-place.  Husband,  wife,  and  the 
elder  children  go  to  work;  they  have  to  get  up  very  early 
in  the  morning,  when  the  children  are  still  asleep.  Since 
the  spells  of  rest  for  meals  are  very  short,  they  have  no  time 
to  go  home;  or  if  they  do  hurry  home,  they  have  to  gulp 
down  their  food  with  lightning  speed.  Not  until  late  in  the 
evening,  when  the  children  have  gone  to  sleep  again,  do  the 
parents  return  home.  Thousands  of  working  men,  owing  to 
the  distance  of  their  homes  from  their  work-places,  remain 
a  whole  week  away,  and  return  home  to  their  families  only 
on  Saturday.  Even  if  the  parents  get  home  from  work  in 
the  evenings  before  their  children  are  asleep,  the  former  are 
so  worn  out  by  long  hours  of  exhausting  toil  that  they  can 
do  nothing  for  their  children. 

The  housing  conditions  of  the  working  classes  are  rarely  satis- 
factory. In  consequence  of  this,  the  children  are  often  driven 
to  live  in  the  streets;  and  this,  m  turn,  leads  to  immorality  and 


The  Quality  of  the  Population  37 

to  crime.  Often  the  children  of  working-class  families  do  not 
remain  at  home  at  all,  but  find  their  way  to  creches,  foundling 
hospitals,  poorhouses,  and  other  institutions.  Proletarian 
parents  have  less  knowledge  and  less  capacity  for  the  educa- 
tion of  their  children  than  parents  belonging  to  other  classes 
of  the  population.  These  latter,  also,  can  more  readily  afford 
to  entrust  the  education  of  their  children  to  other  persons. 

Nevertheless,  the  education  of  the  children  of  the  well- 
to-do  cannot  be  unconditionally  regarded  as  better  than  the 
education  of  the  children  of  the  poor.  The  chief  defects  as 
regards  the  children  of  the  well-to-do  are,  that  they  are  apt 
to  receive  too  much  attention ;  they  are  often  spoiled,  and 
their  initiative  is  continually  suppressed.  Rich  parents  keep 
servants,  and  entrust  to  these  in  large  part  the  upbringing 
of  their  children.  In  our  day  it  has  come  to  be  regarded  as 
necessary  and  natural  that  children  should  be  cared  for  by 
servants :  thus  the  influence  exercised  by  servants  upon  the 
children  of  the  well-to-do  is  a  very  extensive  and  by  no 
means  a  happy  one.  For  these  servants  commonly  lack 
refinement  and  intelligence,  and  the  abilities  of  the  trained 
educationalist  are  altogether  lacking  to  them.  The  domestic 
servant  may  bring  up  suitably  his  or  her  own  children,  but 
not  the  children  of  another ;  and  the  failure  will  be  especially 
marked  when  the  child's  social  position  is  much  higher  than 
the  servant's. 

Parents,  School,  Environment. — The  three  primary  factors 
in  education  are :  parents,  school,  and  environment.  Strictly 
speaking,  indeed,  parents  and  school  are  only  parts  of  the 
environment.  In  a  sense,  however,  the  whole  of  education 
is  nothing  more  than  the  influencing  of  the  capacities  and 
dispositions  of  the  child  by  external  factors — that  is,  by 
the  environment.  The  influence  exercised  by  the  environ- 
ment is  very  great.  As  social  life  develops  in  complexity, 
the  child  is  exposed  ever  more  and  more  to  the  influences 
of  environment,  and  the  educative  influence  exercised  by  this 
latter  becomes  ever  more  extensive.  But  in  our  time  the 
child  is  less  exposed  than  the  adult  to  the  influences  of  the 
environment. 

In  the  first  years  of  life  the  work  of  education  is  in  the 


r-  ^.\p 


38  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

hands  of  the  parents,  and  above  all  in  those  of  the  mother. 
Subsequently  the  schoolmaster  and  schoolmistress  share  with 
the  parents  in  the  work  of  education,  and  the  part  played 
by  the  parents  becomes  ever  less  important.  In  addition, 
however,  to  the  influence  exerted  at  first  by  the  parents,  and 
subsequently  by  the  teachers,  the  general  environment  does 
its  work  from  the  very  earliest  days  of  life.  It  is  a  natural 
postulate  of  a  sound  education,  that  all  these  three  factors, 
parents,  school,  and  environment,  should  co-operate,  and  that 
each  should  exercise  its  appropriate  influence.  If  they 
counteract  instead  of  assisting  one  another,  the  general  result 
will  be  unsatisfactory  and  inadequate.  In  vain  does  the 
school  attempt  to  exercise  a  favourable  influence  if  the 
work  of  the  school  is  undone  by  the  influence  of  the  parents. 
Again,  the  joint  influence  of  parents  and  of  school  is  fruitless 
if  the  child,  when  away  from  home  and  out  of  school  hours, 
is  under  the  influence  of  bad  associates.  Unfortunately,  with 
the  development  of  capitalism  such  cases  have  become  ever 
more  common. 

The  Tendency  of  Evolution. — With  the  passage  of  the  years, 
the  importance  of  education  continually  increases.  The 
seductions  and  the  temptations  encountered  by  young  people 
to-day  are  at  once  far  more  frequent  and  far  more  subtle 
than  was  the  case  in  former  times.  To  enable  them  to  with- 
stand these  allurements,  the  young  require  a  better  and  a  more 
careful  education.  In  the  early  stages  of  evolution,  alike  in 
the  struggle  for  existence  between  individuals  and  in  the 
struggle  for  existence  between  competing  tribes,  physical 
strength  was  the  decisive  factor  of  success;  but  in  the  later 
stages  of  human  evolution  it  is  upon  intellectual  and  moral 
well-being  that  victory  in  the  struggle  depends.  Hence 
intellectual  and  moral  education  become  of  ever  greater  im- 
portance. To-day,  one  whose  intellectual  and  moral  education 
has  been  neglected  is  far  less  able  to  meet  with  success 
the  demands  made  by  modern  life  than  one  living  some 
hundreds  of  years  ago,  whose  education  had  been  neglected, 
would  have  been  able  to  meet  the  demands  made  by  the  life 
of  his  own  time.  In  such  a  case,  in  our  own  day,  the 
likelihood  that  one  whose  education  has  been  neglected  will 


The  Quality  of  the  Population  39 

be  useless  and  even  dangerous  to  society,  is  far  greater  than 
it  would  have  been  in  former  times ;  and  as  time  goes  on 
the  differences  between  those  who  have  had  an  appropriate 
education  -and  those  whose  education  has  been  neglected  will 
become  more  and  more  extensive. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  majority  of  habitual  criminals 
are  persons  who  began  to  commit  punishable  offences  in  the 
earlier  years  of  their  life.  It  is  only  in  the  rarest  instances 
that  by  legal  punitive  methods  we  prevent  a  juvenile  offender 
from  developing  into  a  habitual  criminal ;  the  object  of  the 
punishment  is  seldom  attained.  The  question  therefore 
presses  itself  upon  our  attention,  whether  the  prevention  of 
crime  cannot  best  be  attained  in  another  way  than  by  the 
use  of  penal  methods,  namely,  by  the  proper  education  of 
children. 

Education  has  no  bearing  upon  the  life  of  persons  living 
in  complete  isolation ;  it  is  a  postulate  of  social  life  alone,  and 
becomes  impregnated  to  a  continually  greater  extent  with 
social  elements.  The  modern  tendency  of  social  evolution  is 
to  relieve  the  family  of  the  cares  of  education,  which  becomes 
to  an  increasing  extent  a  communal  duty ;  whilst  the  share  of 
the  parents  in  the  education  of  their  children  is  limited,  social 
institutions  providing  more  generally  and  more  thoroughly 
for  that  education.  England  offers  us  a  typical  example  of 
the  working  of  this  modern  tendency;  for  England  is 
commonly  regarded  as  pre-eminently  individualistic,  and  yet 
there  is  no  country  in  which  more  limitations  have  been 
imposed  upon  parental  authority,  or  in  which  compulsory 
and  universal  education  is  more  thoroughly  enforced  by 
the  State. 

The  elements  of  educational  science  depend  mainly  upon 
the  social  conditions  that  obtain  in  the  country  with  which 
we  have  to  do ;  as  time  passes,  the  science  undergoes  a 
progressive  alteration,  and  leads  us  from  individual  education 
to  social  education.  The  elements  of  the  education  of  the 
future  will  depend  upon  the  general  configuration  of  social 
life,  upon  the  characteristics  of  domestic  life,  and  upon  the 
regulation  of  parental  authority.  The  individual  household 
of  our  own  time  has  no  regard  at  all  for  the  special  needs  of 


40  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

the  child,  and  the  various  occupations  carried  on  in  such  a 
household  constitute  a  hindrance  to  the  proper  upbringing 
of  children.  The  labours  of  the  kitchen  expose  children 
to  constant  accidents — from  fire,  boiling  water,  sharp  instru- 
ments, &c.  The  parents,  and  more  especially  the  mother, 
will  in  times  to  come  be  much  less  occupied  than  at  present 
in  domestic  drudgery,  and  will  consequently  have  more  time 
to  devote  to  the  upbringing  of  their  children.  The  parents 
will  also  themselves  stand  at  a  much  higher  level  of  culture, 
and  this  cannot  fail  to  lead  to  an  effective  demand  for  the 
more  suitable  upbringing  of  children.  The  modern  dwelling 
and  its  furniture  take  no  account  at  all  of  the  needs  of 
children ;  at  every  turn  there  are  sharp  corners  and  hard 
objects,  by  contact  with  which  children  may  be,  and  often 
are,  seriously  injured.  In  former  times  various  occupations 
were  carried  on  in  the  individual  household  which  hardly 
any  one  now  dreams  of  doing  at  home:  among  these  may 
be  mentioned,  spinning,  weaving,  laundry-work,  soap-boiling, 
the  slaughtering  of  animals  and  the  preparation  of  their 
flesh,  the  grinding  of  meal,  &c.  &c.  In  the  United  States  of 
America  even  to-day  many  families  take  all  their  principal 
meals  at  public  restaurants ;  in  America  also,  to  an  increasing 
degree,  heating,  ventilation,  and  lighting  of  the  houses  is 
provided  from  central  establishments.  The  household  of 
to-day  is  inconvenient  and  uneconomical.  Much  work  is 
still  done  at  home  which  could  be  done  more  cheaply,  more 
effectively,  and  more  conveniently  elsewhere.  As  time  goes 
on,  one  labour  after  another  which  is  now  done  at  home 
will  be  removed  altogether  from  the  sphere  of  the  domestic 
economy,  and  this  will  necessarily  lead  ultimately  to  the 
disappearance  of  the  individual  household.  In  the  future, 
human  beings  will  occupy  separate  dwellings,  but  not  separate 
households ;  or,  to  put  the  matter  more  intelligibly,  most  of 
the  work  now  carried  on  in  the  individual  household  will  be 
arranged  for  from  centralised  organisations.  It  is  obvious 
that  these  changes  will  lead  to  extensive  modifications  of  our 
present  individual  methods  of  domestic  architecture. 

The  educational  developments  of  the  future  will  depend, 
not   only  on   the   changes   that   have  been   foreshadowed   in 


The  Quality  of  the  Population  41 

domestic  life,  but  also  on  the  future  development  of  the 
institution  of  the  family.  Naturally,  the  characteristics  of 
the  family  and  the  characteristics  of  the  household  are 
intimately '  associated.  But,  whatever  changes  may  ensue  in 
these  respects,  the  fundamental  principle  that  the  parents  are 
responsible  for  the  upbringing  of  their  children  is  not  likely 
to  be  abandoned,  for  it  is  based  upon  an  instinct  deeply  rooted 
in  the  very  nature  of  human  beings.  But  the  actual  work 
of  education  will  probably  be  in  the  hands  of  educational 
specialists  almost  exclusively,  as  soon  as  the  days  of  infancy 
and  very  early  childhood  are  outgrown.  When  physically 
able  to  do  so,  mothers  will,  of  course,  suckle  their  own 
children.  The  transformation  of  our  domestic  economy  and 
our  domestic  architecture  will  result  in  giving  enormously 
increased  importance  to  institutions  for  the  upbringing  of 
children;  creches,  kindergartens,  and  elementary  schools  will 
play  a  far  greater  part  than  at  present  in  social  life ;  such 
institutions  will  probably  care  for  children  in  every  possible 
way,  and  will  aim  at  the  satisfaction  of  all  their  elementary 
needs. 


CHAPTER   V 

PROS   AND   CONS   OF   CHILD-PROTECTION 

Introductory. — The  lex  minimi  ("  law  of  parsimony  ")  is  not 
merely  a  natural  law,  but  is  also  the  guiding  principle  both  of 
legislative  and  of  executive  activity.  From  this  law  we 
learn,  among  other  things :  "  When  we  wish  to  attain  any  end, 
we  must  arrange  to  do  this  with  the  smallest  possible  expendi- 
ture of  means ;  with  the  means  available  we  must  secure  the 
greatest  possible  result ;  the  cost  of  production  must  not  exceed 
the  value  of  the  finished  product.  No  institution  should  be 
maintained  if  its  utility  is  less  than  the  equivalent  of  the  cost 
of  its  maintenance.  However  fine  an  aim  may  be,  it  must 
never  be  forgotten  that  society  and  the  State  have  other  aims 
in  addition  to  this  one,  and  that  if  for  the  attainment  of  this 
particular  aim  an  excessive  expenditure  of  wealth  is  requisite, 
some  wealth  will  be  used  up  which  is  needed  for  the  attainment 
of  other  aims." 

Prevention  is  better  than  cure.  One  whose  actions  are 
guided  by  foresight  will  use  preventive  methods  all  the  more 
readily  because  prevention  is  a  part  of  the  natural  order  of 
things.  It  is  applicable  not  only  in  domestic  life,  but  also  in 
the  general  life  of  society;  and  as  evolution  proceeds,  the 
importance  of  repression  continually  diminishes,  whilst  the 
importance  of  prevention  continually  increases. 

Every  social  institution  serves  for  the  attainment  of  some 
particular  end — is,  that  is  to  say,  a  means  to  that  end.  If  an 
end  can  be  obtained  without  consuming  wealth — that  is,  without 
employing  the  means  involving  such  an  expenditure  of  wealth, 
then  the  sacrifice  of  this  wealth  and  the  employment  of  these 
means  are  superfluous,  and  even  harmful.  The  tendency  of 
every  social  institution  is,  in  fact,  to  become  superfluous,  and 
to  be  superseded  with  the  passage  of  the  years. 


Pros  and  Cons  of  Child- Protection  43 

The  wise   physician  who   has   to   deal  with   the   diseases 
affecting  the  human  body  does  not  confine  his  efforts  to  the 
treatment  and  reHef  of  symptoms,  but  endeavours  to  ascertain 
and  to  reinove  the  causes  of  those  symptoms.    He  is  well  aware 
that  a  method  of  treatment  which  is  confined  to  the  relief  of 
mere  symptoms  will  effect  no  more  than  a  temporary  improve- 
ment, and  that  as  long  as  the  cause  of  the  symptoms  remains  in 
active  operation,  the  morbid  phenomena  will  continue  to  recur. 
Now  these  considerations  apply  with  just  as  much  force  to  the 
social  organism  as  they  do  to  the  individual  human  organism. 
When  we  pass  judgment  upon  a  social  institution,  we  must 
always   endeavour   to   ascertain   whether  any  defect  we  may 
notice  connected  with  its  working  belongs  to  the  social  institu-  1 
tion  as  such,  and  whether  the  fault  is  inseparable  from  the/ 
institution,  or  whether  we  may  reasonably  expect  that  in  the 
further  course  of  development,  or  as  a  result  of  better  organ- 
isation, this  particular  defect  will  disappear.     In  the  work  of  i 
child-protection,  these  fundamental  principles  must  always  be  \ 
kept  in  mind. 

Objections  to  Child-Protection. — A  number  of  objections  have 
been  formulated  against  child-protection,  of  which  the  following 
may  be  mentioned.  In  creches  and  other  institutions  for  the  ' 
care  of  young  children,  the  spread  of  infectious  diseases  very 
readily  occurs.^ '  Most  of  the  institutions  aiming  at  child- 
protection  are  really  rewards  of  immorality,  and  thus  tend 
to  encourage  immorality.  It  is  a  natural  law  that  a  child 
"should  be  cared  for  by  its  own  parents,  and  child-protec- 
tion, in  so  far  as  it  separates  the  child  from  its  parents,  is 
unnatural. 

Most  of  these  objections  are  invalid.  Many  authors  main- 
tain that  the  protection  of  juvenile  criminals  does  more  harm 
than  good ;  but  even  if  this  is  true  to-day,  it  does  not  follow 
that  juvenile  criminals  should  not  be  protected,  but  simply 
that  our  methods  of  protection  should  be  better  adapted  to 
their  purpose.  The  objections  urged  against  creches  and  other 
institutions  for  the  care  of  young  children  should  not  lead  to 
the  inference  that  no  such  institutions  ought  to  exist,  but 
should  rather  draw  our  attention  to  the  necessity  for  taking 
better  measures  to  prevent  the   introduction   and   spread    of 


44  Ele7nents  of  Child- Protection 

infectious  diseases.  No  one  can  doubt  to-day  that  the  sup- 
pression of  these  diseases  is  within  our  power. 

Objections  to  the  Care  of  Foundlings. — In  the  literature  of 
our  subject  we  find  great  diversity  of  opinion  regarding  the 
care  of  foundlings,  and  it  is  therefore  necessary  that  we  should 
examine  the  objections  that  have  been  made  to  institutions 
for  this  purpose.  A  careful  study  of  the  matter  will  show 
that  the  criticisms  apply  not  to  the  general  principle  on  which 
foundling  hospitals  are  instituted,  but  to  a  particular  form  of 
this  institution.  It  is  well  known  that  the  foundling  hospitals 
of  former  days  received  children  by  means  of  a  turn-table, 
through  an  aperture  in  the  wall  (so  that  the  person  who 
brought  the  child  might  remain  entirely  unknown),  that  the 
children  grew  to  maturity  in  such  institutions,  that  the 
infants  were  artificially  fed,  that  the  most  elementary  hygienic 
precautions  were  neglected  in  these  buildings,  &c.  &c.  It  is 
natural  that  such  foundling  hospitals  as  these  should  be 
attacked  by  many  writers  as  harmful  in  the  highest  degree. 
But  these  writers  completely  ignore  the  fact  that  the  defects 
were  not  characteristic  of  all  foundling  hospitals,  and  that 
therefore  they  did  not  attach  to  the  institutions  as  such,  but 
were  the  outcome  simply  of  defective  organisation ;  they  also 
fail  to  observe  that  the  care  of  foundlings  may  be  undertaken 
without  instituting  foundling  hospitals.  The  weightiest  of  all 
the  objections  to  foundling  hospitals  is  that  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance of  these  institutions  is  disproportionate  to  any  good 
they  may  effect,  inasmuch  as  the  value  to  society  of  those 
foundlings  who  attain  maturity  is  no  proper  equivalent  for 
the  pains  expended  in  attaining  this  result.  In  view  of  the 
lex  minimi,  to  which  reference  was  made  at  the  beginning  of 
this  chapter,  has  such  an  institution  any  right  to  exist  ? 

The -turn-table  for  the  reception  of  children  was  instituted 
for  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  the  whole  act  of  "  exposing  " 
a  child  was  to  be  discreetly  veiled  from  the  public  eye ;  and, 
in  the  second  place,  no  excuse  was  to  be  left  open  for  the 
crime  of  infanticide.  It  is  true  that  in  our  own  day  there  are 
many  reasons  to  be  alleged  against  retaining  the  turn-table ;  it 
provides  a  means  whereby  the  parents  of  children  born  in 
lawful  wedlock  can  evade  their  natural  obligations,  and  impose 


Pros  and  Cons  of  Child- Protection  45 

these  upon  society  at  large ;  it  involves  a  legal  contradiction, 
inasmuch  as  it  tacitly  permits,  and  even  formally  invites, 
parents  to  expose  their  children,  although  this  is  a  criminal 
offence ;  finally,  it  leads  to  the  overcrowding  of  the  foundling 
hospitals.  In  short,  all  the  objections  to  the  institution  of  the 
turn-table  are  perfectly  sound;  but  it  would  be  altogether 
unwarrantable  to  infer  from  this  that  foundling  hospitals 
themselves  are  unnecessary  and  even  harmful.  Foundling 
hospitals  can  exist  without  a  turn-table  (not  a  single  modern 
foundling  hospital  contains  any  such  thing);  the  defects  of 
foundling  hospitals  with  turn-tables  are  not  defects  of  found- 
ling hospitals  as  such,  but  defects  attaching  to  the  institution 
of  the  turn-table. 

If  we  are  told  that  foundling  hospitals  fail  to  attain  their 
ends  (the  prevention  of  infanticide  and  the  increase  of  the 
population),  if  we  are  told  that  the  foundling  hospitals  were 
themselves  murder-traps,  and  that  all  they  could  do  was  to 
preserve  for  society  a  few  individuals  competent  for  harm 
rather  than  for  good,  we  may  rejoin  that  in  modern  foundling 
hospitals  the  death-rate  is  much  lower  than  it  was  in  those 
of  former  times,  that  children  now  receive  in  these  institutions 
a  much  better  upbringing  than  was  formerly  the  case,  and 
that  the  defects  alleged  do  not  attach  to  foundling  hospitals 
as  such,  but  merely  to  this  or  that  way  of  managing  such 
institutions.  Finally,  it  is  necessary  to  point  out,  that  whereas 
the  foundling  hospitals  of  former  times,  owing  to  their  defective 
administration,  probably  did  not  "  pay,"  the  progress  of  medical 
science  has  greatly  reduced  the  death-rate  in  foundling  hospitals, 
the  children  in  these  institutions  are  now  much  better  brought 
up,  and  for  these  reasons  the  effective  return  made  by  foundling 
hospitals  to  society  is  far  greater  than  it  used  to  be. 

Darvnnism  versus  Poor-Relief. — Many  Darwinians  oppos 
Poor-Relief.  The  interest  of  the  community  demands  that' 
its  members  should  be  physically,  intellectually,  and  morally 
sound.  Social  evolution  and  social  well-being  depend  upon 
the  survival  of  the  fittest.  It  follows  from  this  that  the 
interest  of  the  community  demands  that  we  should  prevent 
the  birth  of  diseased  and  weakly  individuals ;  and  that  if  such 
individuals  should  nevertheless  be  born,  the  sooner  they  perish 


46  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

the  better.  If  this  were  unconditionally  true,  we  should  have 
to  admit  that  the  relief  of  destitution  is  not  merely  useless  to 
society,  but  is  positively  harmful. 

In  many  instances,  by  the  application  of  medical  skill  and 
knowledge,  it  is  possible,  at  considerable  expenditure  of  effort, 
to  keep  alive  sickly  persons,  those  predisposed  to  crime,  and 
those  predisposed  to  particular  diseases — persons  who,  in  de- 
fault of  such  special  care,  would  inevitably  have  succumbed. 
Such  defectives,  attaining  maturity,  procreate  their  kind,  pro- 
ducing a  new  generation  of  sickly  individuals,  with  deficient 
powers  of  resistance.  Such  applications  of  medical  science 
are  doubtless  valuable  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  individuals 
thus  benefited,  but  they  promote  the  deterioration  of  the  race. 
This  anti-eugenist  influence  is  exerted  in  a  twofold  manner : 
not  only  are  the  defectives  kept  alive  and  enabled  to  procreate 
their  kind,  but  these  defectives  utilise  goods  and  services  which 
would  otherwise  have  been  allotted  to  healthy  persons,  whereby 
these  latter  become  less  well  able  to  found  and  rear  families. 

The  relief  of  destitution  provides  support  for  the  weaker 
members  of  the  community.  Whereas,  in  default  of  public 
assistance,  such  persons  would  hesitate  to  marry,  a  generous 
public  provision  for  the  destitute  facilitates  the  light-hearted 
increase  of  the  lower  classes  of  the  population,  since  these 
latter  feel  justified  in  believing  that,  should  the  worst  come 
to  the  worst,  their  children  will  be  provided  for  by  the  com- 
munity. In  the  relief  of  the  destitute,  the  commodities  de- 
voted to  the  maintenance  of  the  weak  are  taken  away  from 
the  strong.  In  consequence  of  this  deprivation,  the  strong 
find  it  necessary  to  limit  their  families — an  example  which 
the  weak  will  not  follow.  Thus  the  relief  of  destitution  favours 
a  reversed  selection.  The  relief  of  destitution  also  impairs  the 
efficiency  of  the  processes  whereby  the  diseased  and  useless 
constituents  are  eliminated  from  the  social  organism,  and  this 
interference  with  eliminative  processes  is  no  less  dangerous  to 
the  social  than  it  is  to  the  individual  organism. 

Darwinism  versus  Child- Protection. — The  Darwinians  main- 
tain that  all  these  considerations  apply  with  equal  force  to 
child-protection.  We  must,  they  tell  us,  protect  strong  children 
only,  and  do  nothing  for  the  weakly.     Child-protection  to-day. 


Pi'os  and  Cons  of  Child-Protection  47 

they  insist,  effects  the  reverse  of  this.  It  counteracts  ex- 
cessive child  mortality,  which  is  an  effective  factor  in  selection, 
through  its  destruction  of  weakly  children.  For  example,  the 
existence  'of  foundling  hospitals  induces  many  parents  to 
abandon  the  care  of  their  own  children,  and  to  commit  these 
to  the  foundling  hospitals.  Many  parents,  being  aware  that 
the  State  undertakes  the  coercive  reformatory  education  of 
neglected  children,  deliberately  neglect  the  education  of  their 
own  children,  in  order  to  force  the  community  to  undertake  it. 

During  the  first  years  of  life,  continue  these  ultra-Darwinians, ' 
more  children  die  than  in  the  later  years  of  childhood,J)ecause, 
owing  to  natural  selection  in  the  first  years  of  life,  a  larger 
proportion  of  the  weak  succumb,  so  that  the  level  of  health  , 
of  those  in  the  later  years  of  childhood  is  considerably  higher.  I 
High  infant  mortality  is  at  once  a  symptom  and  a  meaxis 
of_natural  seleetion.  Years  characterised  by  high  infant 
mortality  necessarily  follow  years  in  which  the  infantile  death- 
rate  has  been  low.  In  countries  with  high  infant  mortality 
the  population  is  stronger,  because  the  badly- equipped  new- 
born infants  die  in  greater  proportion  than  the  well-equipped ; 
in  subsequent  years  the  mortality  is  consequently  lower,  the 
fitness  for  military  service  is  greater,  and  tuberculosis  is  less 
common.  To  diminish  infant  mortality  would  lead  to  a  more 
rapid  increase  of  population;  it  would,  in  fact,  give  rise  to 
over-population  to  such  an  extent  that  the  struggle  for  existence 
would  become  even  more  cruel  and  abhorrent  than  it  is  to-day. 
Certain  departments  of  child-protection  lead  to  the  preservation 
of  children  whose  survival  is  altogether  undesirable — children 
which  would  otherwise  have  perished  during  the  first  years 
of  life. 

(If  it  is  true  that  illegitimate  children  are  of  very  little 
use  to  the  community,  and  if  it  is  impossible  to  prevent  the 
birth  of  such  children,  it  is  at  any  rate  desirable,  continue  the 
writers  of  this  school,  that  those  Avhich  actually  do  come  into 
the  world  should  die  as  soon  as  possible.  Consider  also  born 
criminals.  These  inflict  grave  injury  on  the  community.  If 
it  is  impossible  to  prevent  their  birth,  should  not  society  at 
least  take  steps  to  secure  that  their  life  should  be  as  short 
as  possible  ?) 


^ 


48  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

Tilt  Bight  View. — These  views  are  only  partially  correct. 
It  may  be  true  that  a  great  proportion  of  illegitimate  children 
are  weakly,  and  perhaps  for  this  reason  their  mortality-rate 
and  criminality-rate  are  excessive ;  it  is  also  probable  that 
in  the  absence  of  child-protection  their  death-rate  would  be 
considerably  higher  than  it  is.  Elsewhere  in  this  work  we 
shall  consider  whether,  and  to  what  extent,  it  is  possible  to 
prevent  the  birth  of  illegitimate  children.  It  may  also  be 
true  that  the  born  criminal  is  physically,  intellectually,  and 
morally  degenerate,  and  that  for  these  reasons  in  the  absence 
of  child-protection  he  would  probably  succumb  in  early  life. 

The  race  is  not  always  damaged  by  the  survival  of  those 
who  have  suffered  from  disease.  The  disease  may  be  of  such 
a  kind  that  the  patient  who  survives  may  recover  completely, 
and  may  procreate  perfectly  healthy  children.  It  is  a  very 
thorny  question  whether  it  can  ever  be  right  to  refrain  from 
the  cure  of  certain  patients,  because  to  cure  them  would  be 
injurious  to  the  race.  Here  humanity  and  race-interest  seem 
to  conflict.  If,  in  the  future,  by  the  proper  application  of 
preventive  methods,  we  are  able  to  ensure  that  very  few  such 
sick  persons  shall  exist,  it  will  no  longer  be  necessary  to 
attempt  to  cure  such  as  do  exist,  for  in  that  day  the  applica- 
tion of  the  euthanasia  in  such  cases  will  no  longer  be  regarded 
as  inhuman,  but  rather  as  perfectly  natural  and  right. 

To  the  assertion  that  only  the  healthy  and  strong  should 
be  protected,  we  may  answer  that  the  sickly  and  the  weakly 
are  far  more  in  need  of  such  protection.  It  is  perfectly  true 
that  those  who  are  not  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  their 
environment  perish.  But  one  of  the  chief  aims  of  child 
protection  is  to  enable  children  to  become  capable  of  adapta- 
tion to  their  environment;  and  in  the  majority  of  children 
we  are  able  to  effect  this.  Even  those  in  whom  this  is 
unattainable  ought  not  to  be  neglected,  because,  while  they 
are  slowly  succumbing,  society  suffers  much  injury  from  them. 
One  who  is  ill  or  weak  from  one  point  of  view  only  may 
nevertheless  be  a  useful  member  of  society,  since  perhaps  in 
some  other  relationship  he  may  be  strong  or  healthy.  In  the 
present  state  of  our  knowledge,  we  are  unable  during  a  child's 
early  years,  and  still  less  immediately  after  birth,  to  determine 


Pros  and  Cons  of  Child- Protection  49 

positively  whether  the  child  is  intellectually  or  morally 
defective,  whether  it  is  a  born  criminal,  or  whether  it  is  one 
capable  of  developing  into  a  useful  member  of  society.  We 
must  certainly  dispute  the  assertion  that  a  child  which  is 
bodily  Aveak  is  of  necessity  also  intellectually  and  morally 
defective,  since  thousands  of  instances  establish  the  fact  that 
a  child  which  is  bodily  weak  often  proves  to  be  a  useful 
member  of  society.  If  there  were  no  child  -  protection, 
children  would  perish  whose  survival  is  unquestionably 
desirable. 

We  consider,  therefore,  that  child-protection  is  necessary,  \ 
although,  notwithstanding  great  pains  and  great  sacrifices,  it  \ 
often  results  in  the  survival  of  individuals  who  are  useless  to    j 
society.     The  view  that  only  the  children  of  the  inferior  and    ] 
poorer  classes  of  the  population  are  suitable  for  the  application 
of  the  methods  of  child-protection,  is  erroneous,  if  only  for  \ 
the  reason  that  the  well-to-do  to-day  bring  forth  offspring 
utterly  regardless  whether  these  are  strong  or  weak;  and  also 
because  capitalism  interferes  in  other  ways  with  the  effective 
operation  of  natural  selection.      These  various   evils   can  be 
obviated  to-day  only  by  means  of  child-protection. 

In  the  case  of  infants,  there  is  no  question  of  the  struggle 
for  existence.  For  their  death  -  rate  depends  upon  two 
factors — first,  upon  their  inborn  capacity ;  secondly,  upon  the 
conditions  in  which  they  are  reared.  The  former  factor  is 
of  far  less  importance  in  relation  to  infant  mortality  than  it  is 
in  relation  to  child  mortality.  Only  in  an  extremely  limited 
sense  is  it  possible,  with  regard  to  infants,  to  speak  of  a 
struggle  for  existence,  in  virtue  of  which  the  fittest  survive. 
The  infant  is  exposed  to  numerous  dangers,  in  coping  with 
which  its  inborn  capacity  hardly  counts  at  all.  When  certain 
external  influences  come  into  play,  the  infant  is  quite  incap- 
able of  making  an  advantageous  use  of  its  inborn  physiological 
capacities.  Such  external  influences  destroy  quite  indifferently 
infants  well-equipped  and  ill-equipped  at  birth.  There  is  no 
doubt  of  the  fact  that  a  strong  infant  could  better  resist  most 
of  the  diseases  of  infancy  than  a  weakly  infant ;  but  the 
differences  in  power  of  resistance  in  infants  are  far  less 
extensive  than  is  generally  believed.     It  is  certainly  wrong 

D 


\ 


50  E/emetits  of  Child-Protection 

to  maintain  that  a  strong  infant  is  able  successfully  to  resist 
all  diseases. 

/  For  the  very  reason  that  certain  diseases — for  example, 
icertain  affections  of  the  stomach  and  intestines — will  destroy 
Wen  the  strongest  infant,  the  prevention  of  these  diseases 
becomes  a  matter  of  the  first  importance.  It  is  unquestionable 
that  such  diseases  can  be  more  effectively  prevented  in  pro- 
portion as  the  circumstances  are  favourable  in  which  the 
infant  is  reared. 

It  is  certainly  through  an  error  of  observation  that  some 
writers  maintain  that  in  the  age-class  of  children  who  have 
survived  their  first  year  we  find  no  weaklings.  Even  the 
strongest  infant  will  not  survive  to  enter  this  age-class  if 
its  environing  conditions  are  too  unfavourable.  It  often 
happens  that  an  infant  survives  an  illness,  and  yet  survives 
in  a  damaged  condition.  A  high  death-rate  is  a  consequence 
of  a  high  disease-rate ;  but  of  the  infants  affected  with  disease, 
only  a  certain  proportion  succumbs,  whilst  the  others  survive 
with  damaged  constitutions,  and  constitute  a  favourable  soil 
for  fresh  inroads  of  disease.  (J[n  the  twentieth  century,  in  the 
civilised  countries  of  Europe,  o?  one  hundred  ch-ildren  dying 
during  the  first  year  of  life,  barely  twenty  die  in  consequence 
of  inborn  defects  or  congenital  diseases  (such  as  congenital 
debility,  atrophy,  congenital  scrofula,  tuberculosis,  &c.).  1 

If  it  were  true  that  infant  mortality  exercised  a  Selective 
function,  we  should  find  a  high  infantile  death-rate  associated 
with  a  low  death-rate  in  the  case  of  children  past  infancy,  and 
conversely.  But  everywhere  we  find  that  the  infantile  death- 
rate  and  the  death-rate  amongst  children  at  ages  one  to  five 
vary  directly,  and  not  inversely.  Moreover,  the  variations  in 
the  death-rates  in  children  during  different  years  of  life  are 
determined  by  the  fact  that  the  younger  the  child,  the  less 
are  its  powers  of  resistance ;  thus  the  danger  to  health  result- 
ing from  unfavourable  conditions  of  life  varies  inversely  as 
the  child's  age  ;  and  even  within  the  limits  of  the  first  year 
of  life,  the  infantile  death-rate  is  higher  in  proportion  as  the 
time  which  has  elapsed  since  birth  is  less.  Among  the  lower 
classes  of  the  population,  the  infantile  death-rate  is  higher 
than  it  is  among  the  upper  classes.     If  a  high  infantile  death- 


Pros  and  Cons  of  Child- Protection  51 

rate  exercised  a  selective  influence,  we  should  find  that  among 
the  lower  classes  the  death-rate  among  children  more  than 
one  year' old  would  be  less  than  the  death-rate  of  upper-class 
children  of  corresponding  ages.  But  this  is  nowhere  the 
casfi»— -. 

VThe  mortality  of  children  between  the  ages  of  one  and 
five  years  depends  chiefly  upon  the  incidence  of  the  infectious 
diseases.  >  It  is  well  known  that  these  diseases  are  much 
milder  m  civilised  than  in  uncivilised  countries.  From  this 
it  follows  that  the  death-rate  among  children  between  the 
ages  of  one  and  five  years  depends  chiefly  upon  the  level  of 
civilisation ;  the  death-rate  being  higher  where  the  level  of 
civilisation  is  low,  and  conversely ;  but  the  infantile  death-rate 
is  much  less  influenced  by  the  standard  of  civilisation.  More- 
over, recent  investigations  have  shown  that  (especially  in 
large  towns  and  in  industrial  regions)  high  infant  mortality 
is  closely  associated  with  a  low  level  of  fitness  for  military 
service,  and  with  a  high  death-rate  from  tuberculosis.  It  is 
true  that  the  number  of  those  who  succumb  to  tuberculosis 
and  the  number  of  those  who  prove  fit  for  military  service  are 
influenced  by  other  causes  in  addition  to  the  infantile  death- 
rate — causes  which  have  nothing  to  do  with  that  death-rate. 
But  the  fact  remains  indisputable  that  the  causes  leading  to 
a  great  mortality  among  infants  tend  to  injure  the  constitu- 
tion of  those  infants  who  succeed  in  surviving,  and  thus 
weaken  the  general  health  of  the  population. 

Socialism  versus  Poor-Relief. — Many  Socialists  are  opposed 
to  the  relief  of  destitution.  Poverty  existed  prior  to  the  rise 
of  capitalism,  and  is  found  where  the  capitalist  system  has 
not  as  yet  struck  root.  But  the  chief  cause  of  poverty  to-day  / 
is  unquestionably  capitalism.  Capitalism  is  the  creator  of 
the  proletariat,  the  type  of  the  poor  class ;  poverty  and  prole- 
tariat, poor  man  and  proletarian,  are  almost  equivalent  terms. 
Capitalism  is  also  the  creator  of  pauperism  {e.g.  of  the 
industrial  reserve  army),  which  must  be  regarded  as  an^ 
essential  pre-condition  of  capitalist  production.  In  the 
manufacturing  districts,  poverty  is  more  extensive  than  it 
is  in  the  agricultural  districts.  In  the  towns  it  is  more 
extensive    than    in   the    country.       Capitalism    cannot   exist 


52  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

without  poor-relief.  Unless  the  destitute  are  relieved  out 
of  the  superfluity  of  capitalism,  certain  very  undesirable  con- 
sequences will  ensue.  For  poverty  is  a  chief  cause  at  once 
of  punishable  offences  and  of  all  kinds  of  disease.  The  two 
main  purposes  of  the  relief  of  the  destitute  are,  in  fact,  the 
protection  of  the  rich  against  criminal  outbreaks  on  the  part 
of  the  poor,  and  the  prevention  of  the  epidemic  diseases 
which  would  breed  in  the  surroundings  of  neglected  poverty, 
and  spread  thence  to  the  homes  of  the  rich. 

The  chief  aim  of  poor-relief  is  to  give  help  in  cases  of 
poverty  arising  from  individual  causes,  to  deal  with  poverty 
regarded  as  an  individual  concern.  Poor-relief  makes  no 
attempt  whatever  to  do  away  with  the  social  causes  of  poverty 
— nor,  indeed,  could  the  methods  of  poor-relief  effect  this, 
even  if  the  attempt  were  made.  In  a  certain  sense,  socialism 
and  poor-relief  have  a  common  character,  inasmuch  as  both 
are  opposed  to  free  competition.  It  is  the  aim  of  poor-relief 
to  relieve  the  disastrous  consequences  of  free  competition ; 
the  aim  of  socialism  is  to  do  away  with  class  distinctions  and 
existing  contrasts  between  wealth  and  poverty — that  is,  to 
equalise  and  to  democratise.  But  socialism  does  not  favour 
the  relief  of  destitution,  and  rather  regards  the  need  for 
such  relief  as  a  proof  of  the  unrighteousness  of  the  capitalist 
system.  ,  Socialism  regards  poor-relief  as  nothing  more  than 
a  way  o^'^treating  symptoms  of  social  disorder,  and  as  a 
method  necessary  only  during  the  age  of  capitalism.  Socialism 
is  hostile  to  any  social  institution  which  serves  to  safeguard 
capitalism.'. 

Socialism  versus  Child-Protection. — The  considerations  put 
forward  regarding  poor-relief  bear  to  some  extent  on  the 
relationships  of  child-protection  to  capitalism.  Many  depart- 
ments of  child- protection — foundling  hospitals,  for  instance — 
are  merely  departments  of  poor-relief.  Child-protection  is 
chiefly  concerned  with  the  children  of  the  poor,  since  these 
are  far  more  in  need  of  protection  than  the  children  of 
the  rich. 

Child-protection  and  socialism  both  existed,  in  a  sense, 
prior  to  the  development  of  capitalism.  But  in  the  nineteenth 
and  twentieth  centuries,  child-protection  has  received  much 


Pros  and  Cons  of  Child-Protection  53 

more  attention  than  in  former  times.  This  extensive  develop- 
ment of  child-protection  is  one  phase  of  that  general  develop- 
ment whose  other  phase  is  the  development  of  capitalism. 
Modern  child-protection  and  modern  socialism  are  necessary 
consequences  of  capitalism,  and  the  existence  of  the  last  in 
the  absence  of  child-protection  and  of  socialism  is  altogether 
unthinkable.  Capitalism  gives  rise  to  numerous  diseases  in 
the  social  organism,  and  then  endeavours  to  cure  them,  for 
the  most  part,  by  the  methods  of  child-protection.  The 
causal  relationship  between  capitalism  and  child-protection 
is  not  direct  or  primary.  Certain  applications  of  child- 
protection  are  not  the  direct  consequences  of  capitalism  itself, 
but  only  consequences  of  the  causes  by  which  capitalism  has 
been  created  and  evolved.  When  we  come  to  examine  con- 
crete conditions,  such  as  those  of  some  particular  country, 
w^e  invariably  find  that  child-protection  and  capitalism  are 
intimately  connected  with  the  general  development  of  the 
country  with  which  we  are  concerned.  This  fact  may  inter- 
pose modifying  conditions  in  the  causal  chain  connecting 
capitalism  and  child-protection. 

(The  origin  of  the  Children's  Courts  in  the  United  States 
of  America  offers  an  instructive  example  of  this.  In  this 
country,  as  in  England,  special  causes  led  early  in  the  last 
century  to  the  establishment  of  reformatory  schools.  But 
whereas  in  England,  until  quite  recently,  boarding  institutions 
were  preferred  for  this  purpose,  from  the  first,  in  the 
United  States  the  attempt  was  made  to  arrange  for  the  up- 
bringing of  neglected  and  criminal  youths  under  family 
auspices.  The  reasons  for  the  adoption  of  this  latter  plan 
in  America  were  the  enormous  possibilities  of  territorial  ex- 
pansion and  the  lively  demand  for  new  population.  When 
juvenile  offenders  came  before  the  courts,  responsible  indi- 
viduals would  offer  to  undertake  the  upbringing  of  these 
children,  binding  themselves  over  to  report  at  regular  intervals 
upon  the  behaviour  of  the  children,  and  generally  accepting 
all  necessary  responsibility.  The  judges  ventured  upon  such 
experiments,  and  as  the  successful  results  multiplied,  this 
method  of  procedure  attained  the  force  of  a  customary  institu- 
tion, and  subsequently  was  formally  embodied  in  legislation.) 


54  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

Certain  departments  of  child-protection  were  in  existence 
before  the  days  of  capitahsm,  but  these  departments  were 
greatly  influenced  by  the  changes  introduced  by  capitalism. 
For  this  reason  the  direct  causal  relationship  between 
capitalism  and  child-protection  cannot  always  be  demonstrated. 
It  may  of  course  happen,  in  any  particular  country,  that  child- 
protection  stands  at  a  higher  or  a  lower  level  of  development 
than  appears  to  correspond  to  the  general  state  of  social 
evolution  or  to  the  development  of  capitalism  in  that  par- 

Iticular  country.     As   an   example   of  this,  we  may  mention 
Hungary,    which,    in    the    matter    of    child-protection,    is    in 
advance  of  countries  where  the  development  of  capitalism  and 
/  of  civilisation  are  in  a  far  more  forward  state ;  and  in  Hungary 
I  the   development  of  child-protection  has  proceeded  in  com- 
1   plete  independence  of  the  shackles  of  historical  evolution. 
i  It  is  not  an   advantage,  but  a  disadvantage,   that  child- 

protection  is  necessary  to-day.  The  country  which  has  need 
of  numerous  institutions  for  purposes  of  social  betterment  is 
in  a  bad  way ;  and,  indeed,  the  more  of  such  institutions  it 
needs,  the  worse  must  its  condition  be.  These  considerations 
apply  to  other  institutions  as  well  as  to  child-protection. 
Just  as  it  is  desirable  that  no  institutions  for  social  better- 
ment should  be  necessary,  so  also  we  might  wish  that  child- 
protection  were  superfluous.  To  put  the  matter  in  other 
words,  it  is  desirable  that  in  any  country  those  conditions 
should  not  exist  which  have  made  it  necessary  to  establish 
institutions  for  social  betterment.  The  country  which  has  no 
need  for  such  institutions  stands  at  a  higher  level  than  the 
country  to  which  they  are  still  indispensable.  But  of  two 
countries  which  have  equal  need  for  such  institutions,  the 
one  which  possesses  them  stands  at  a  higher  level  than 
the  one  in  which  they  have  not  yet  come  into  existence. 
This  last  consideration  must  not  be  forgotten  when  we  are 
making  a  comparative  study  of  child-protection  in  various 
countries. 

Child-protection  to-day  is  solely  concerned  with  attempts 
to  palliate  the  evils  which  necessarily  result  from  the  essential 
nature  of  the  social  organism  of  to-day,  and  is  not  concerned 
with  efforts  to  transform  the  nature  of  that  organism.     Child- 


Pros  and  Ccns  of  Child-Protection  55 

protection  alleviates  some  of  the  symptoms  of  capitalism, 
but  does  nothing  to  prevent  the  ever-renewed  production  of 
such  sytnptoms.  \Thus  we  see  that  child-protection  is  not 
a  scientific  therapeuttt  method,  for  such  a  method  tends,  as 
time  passes,  to  render  itself  superfluous.  Child-protection  is 
an  important  department  of  social  activity.  But  there  are" 
other  much  more  important  departments.  If  the  amount 
of  wealth  expended  for  the  purposes  of  child-protection  is 
excessive,  means  requisite  to  the  attainment  of  other  ends 
will  be  sacrificed,  and  the  pursuit  of  much  more  important 
aims  may  be  rendered  impossible.  The  expenditure  upon 
child-protection  is  useful  to  this  extent,  that  it  prevents  the 
occurrence  of  much  harm,  and  yet  to-day  a  large  proportion 
of  such  expenditure  is  quite  useless,  because  the  evils  which 
child-protection  attempts  to  relieve  are  not,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  all  relieved.  Capitalism  is  the  source  of  the  factors  which 
'make  child-protection  necessary.  Hence  all  our  efforts  for 
child-protection  are  useless  so  long  as  we  continue  to  create 
institutions  by  which  capitalism  is  protected  and  strengthened. 
Child-protection  to-da}^  is  in  essence  nothing  more  than  a 
number  of  repressive  measures,  which  are  necessary  only 
because  capitalism  will  not  permit  the  desired  ends  to  be 
obtained  by  the  use  of  preventive  methods,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  prevention  would  involve  the  destruction  of  capitalism. 
Thus  the  destruction  of  capitalism  is  a  postulate,  not  of 
socialism  merely,  but  also  of  child-protection.  Unfortunately, 
few  people  as  yet  recognise  that  prevention  is  the  true  duty 
of  the  collective  intelligence;  instead  of  searching  out  the 
causes  which  have  made  the  use  of  repressive  measures  neces- 
sary, they  expect  a  cure  to  result  from  the  use  of  repressive 
measures  alone. 

Let  our  device  be,  Prevention.  The  existing  social  order 
must  be  completely  revolutionised.  Let  us  have  done  with 
palliatives.  It  is  time  for  a  new  creation.  Repression  is  good, 
but  prevention  is  a  great  deal  better  !  The  use  of  palliatives 
is  a  necessary  evil  attaching  to  the  existing  social  order ;  but 
it  is  a  crying  instance  of  the  contradictory  character  of  exist- 
ing social  conditions.  It  is  not  right  that  child-protection 
should  be  the  leading  social  and  political  activity  of  the  State, 


56  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

althougli  at  present  such,  activity  is  supposed  to  be  the  climax^ 
of  political  science.     (The  course  of  action  of  a   community 
which,  while  protecting^  children,  oppresses  adults,  is  unjust; 
for  it  would  be  better  that  children  should  perish,  than  that  y 
they  should  grow  up  to  lives  of  misery,  crime,  or  prostitution./ 
"It  is  impossible  to  sympathise  with  a  country  which  sends  the 
children  of  the  working  class  to  foundling  hospitals,  and  the 
adult  workers  themselves  to  prison;  which  protects  children 
simply  in  order  to  increase  the  population,  and  yet  forcibly, 
as  it  were,  drives  the  adults  from  the  country  as  emigrants ; 
which  offers  adult  workers  a  starvation  wage,  and  yet  benevo- 
lently keeps  paupers  alive ;  which  brings  up  pauper  children 
to  become  proletarians,  which  breeds  working  men  to  depress 
by  competition  the  wages  of  their   fellows,  and  to  play  the 
part  of  miserable  strike-breakers. 

'  (Hungary  affords  an  interesting  example  of  this,  for  the 
social  and  political  development  of  this  country  is  by  no 
means  of  the  most  modern  type,  and  yet,  in  the  matter  of 
child-protection,  Hungarian  institutions  are  perhaps  the 
I  finest  in  the  whole  world.  It  is  true  that  child-protection  in 
!  Hungary  is  to  a  large  extent  no  more  than  child-protection 
on  paper,  if  for  no  other  reason,  for  this,  that  the  proper 
administration  of  the  Hungarian  methods  of  child-protection 
cannot  be'  carried  out  efficiently  by  the  executive  personnel 
available  in  that  country.) 

The  true  child -protection,  the  child-protection  of  the 
future,  will  take  the  form  of  the  destruction  of  capitalism. 
It  is  true  that  in  a  certain  way,  and  within  certain  limits, 
child-protection  alleviates  many  of  the  evil  effects  of 
capitalism.  But  there  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  aims 
of  child-protection  could  be  attained  far  more  efficiently  and 
far  more  rapidly  by  the  destruction  of  capitalism.  If  we 
were  to  remove  the  causes  which  make  child-protection 
necessary,  as  they  would  be  removed  by  the  destruction  of 
capitalism,  the  need  for  child-protection  would  disappear. 
But  the  causes  which  make  child-protection  necessary  to- 
day will  not  disappear  until  the  State  of  the  future  comes 
into  being.  The  question  presses,  should  we  postpone  our 
attempts  to  deal  with  the  symptoms  of  the  disease,  to  palHate" ' 


Pros  and  Cons  of  Child- Protection  57 

the  defects  of  the  existing  social  order,  until  the  day  arrives 
"when  "we  shall  be  in  a  position  to  deal  with  these  evils  once 
and  for  all  by  radical  measures  ? 

No !  Even  to-day  we  have  to  concern  ourselves  with 
child-profection.  The  physician  must  not  refuse  to  treat 
his  patient  because  the  means  available  for  treatment  will 
not  suffice  to  cure.  The  wise  physician  does  indeed  endea- 
vour to  discover  and  to  remove  the  causes  of  disease,  but  he 
does  not  neglect  the  symptoms.  He  is  well  aware  that  the 
disappearance  of  the  symptoms  does  not  indicate  the  cure 
of  the  disease.  Nevertheless,  he  holds  it  to  be  his  duty  to 
prescribe  certain  remedies  which  do  no  more  than  relieve 
symptoms.  For  in  many  cases  symptoms  are  disagreeable 
and  even  dangerous,  and  may  actually  lead  to  the  death  of 
the  patient,  before  there  is  time  to  bring  into  play  methods 
of  treatment  which  might  deal  effectively  with  the  causes 
of  the  disease.  Often,  too,  a  remedial  measure  which  does 
no  more  than  relieve  symptoms  may  have  an  excellent  effect 
upon  the  general  bodily  well-being  of  the  patient.  There 
are  even  cases  in  which  a  remedial  measure  exercises  an  un- 
favourable influence  upon  the  disease  and  upon  the  patient's 
general  condition,  and  none  the  less  it  has  to  be  administered, 
in  order  to  ward  off  some  greater  evil.  To-day,  child- 
protection  is  useful  and  even  indispensable.  It  is  true  that 
a  well-planned  social  order  affords  the  best  child-protection, 
"and  such  an  order  is  of  far  greater  value  than  chUd- protec- 
tion in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  term ;  but  this  does  not 
make  the  latter  form  of  child-protection  superfluous. 

The  Plight  View. — The  answers  to  the  questions  asked  in 
this  chapter,  and  more  especially  the  detailed  answer  to  the 
question,  what  subdivisions  of  child-protection  are  the  most 
important  to-day,  and  what  is  the  relative  importance  of  these 
various  subdivisions,  will  be  found  in  the  Special  Part  of  this 
book.  There  I  discuss  the  individual  subdivisions  of  child- 
protection,  and  discuss  in  each  case  the  tendency  of  evolution. 
Unquestionably,  the  tendency  of  evolution  is  in  the  direction 
of  the  better  regulation  of  the  activities  applicable  to  the 
various  subdivisions  of  child- protection. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  EXECUTIVE  INSTRUMENTS  OF  CHILD-PROTECTION 

Introductory.— In  individual  countries  there  are  three  dis- 
tinct factors  engaged  in  the  relief  of  destitution :  local  govern- 
ing bodies,  the  central  government,  and  the  community  at 
Jarger  In  different  countries  the  various  departments  and 
activities  of  poor-relief  are  differently  distributed  among  these 
several  factors.  Which  of  the  three  plays  the  leading  part 
in  this  work  depends  upon  the  pecuUar  circumstances  of 
the  individual  country.  In  any  country  that  factor  which 
predominates  in  the  general  and  in  the  special  work  of  ad- 
ministrative and  executive  activity  is  likely  also  to  play  a 
predominant  part  in  the  relief  of  destitution.  The  same  three 
factors  co-operate  in  the  work  of  child-protection ;  and  in  any 
country  their  relative  shares  in  this  work  commonly  (but  not 
necessarily)  correspond  to  their  relative  shares  in  the  work  of 
poor-relief. 

In  Italy,  even  to-day,  all  three  of  these  factors — the  local 
authorities,  the  central  government  and  the  community  at 
large — are  engaged  in  providing  for  the  care  of  foundlings 
and  illegitimate  children ;  but  the  distribution  of  this  work 
among  the  three  factors  varies  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
these  differences  being  referable  to  historical  causes,  and  more 
especially  to  the  former  territorial  subdivisions  of  the  country. 
In  many  countries  in  which  national  responsibility  for  the 
relief  of  destitution  is  unknown,  many  of  the  subdivisions 
of  child-protection  are  nevertheless  administered  by  the  State. 
As  an  example  may  be  mentioned  the  care  of  foundlings  in 
France.  There  is  a  special  reason  for  this  in  France,  in- 
asmuch as,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  this  country  inquiries 
as  to  the  fatherhood  of  illegitimate  children  {la  recherche  cle 
la  paternite)  are  forbidden,  the  care  of  foundlings  constitutes 


The  Executive  Instruments  of  Child- Protection     59 

a  great,  general,  and  very  pressing  need,  which  can  best  be 
met  by  State  action.  In  many  countries  in  which  the  central 
government  is  responsible  for  poor-relief,  some  of  the  most 
important  subdivisions  of  child-protection  are  administered 
by  voluntary  associations ;  England,  the  classical  land  of 
governmental  poor-relief,  affords  a  good  example  of  this.  Here 
the  fact  that  in  England  voluntary  associations,  as  the  out- 
come of  the  collective  activity  of  the  community  at  large,  have 
long  exercised  a  decisive  influence  in  all  directions,  accounts 
for  the  special  conditions  to  which  attention  has  been  drawn. 

Local  Governing  Bodies. — When  we  are  concerned  mainly 
with  local  conditions,  the  local  governing  bodies  become 
of  primary  importance.  They  are  best  acquamted  with  the 
people  and  their  needs,  and  their  acquaintance  with  these  is 
the  more  intimate  the  smaller  the  community.  Hence  the 
necessary  duties  can  often  be  carried  out  most  effectively 
and  most  economically  by  the  local  authorities.  Many  retro- 
grade local  authorities,  especially  the  smaller  ones  and  those 
in  the  country  districts,  are  hostile  to  many  of  the  applica- 
tions of  child-protection,  regarding  them  as  immoral,  and  they 
may  even  be  quite  unable  to  grasp  the  mental  attitude  of  those 
who  advocate  child-protection.  Many  local  authorities  are 
very  slow  to  undertake  any  extensions  of  communal  activity ; 
either  on  account  of  this  reluctance,  or  else  because  in  small 
communities  the  cost  per  ratepayer  of  the  work  of  child-pro- 
tection is  easily  calculated,  they  are  apt  to  be  too  much  in-. 
fluenced  by  narrow  financial  considerations.  This  is,  in  fact, 
the  gravest  defect  of  child-protection  as  carried  out  by  local 
authorities ;  and  this  explains  also  why  it  is  that  many  local 
authorities  either  entirely  neglect  the  most  necessary  work 
of  child-protection,  or  fail  to  perform  it  adequately;  and  it 
explains  why  the  institutions  founded  by  such  authorities  for 
the  work  of  child-protection  do  not  always  fulfil  the  aims 
with  which  they  were  originated.  It  is  well  known  that  in 
many  local  government  areas  the  homes  for  destitute  orphans 
are  at  the  same  time  workhouses,  poorhouscs,  foci  of  all  kinds 
of  evil  elements.  '  It  is  well  known  that  even  to-day  certain 
local  authorities  hand  over  the  children  for  Avhose  care  they 
are   legally  responsible,  under  indentures,  to  those  who  Avill 


6o  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

take  them  for  the  smallest  premium,  the  children  receiving 
a  wage  of  from  20  to  30  marks  yearly.  For  the  reasons 
explained,  we  find  in  many  countries  that  the  relief  of  desti- 
tution and  child-protection  are  associated  throughout  exten- 
sive areas,  and  even  that  special  ad  hoc  local  authorities  exist 
to  deal  with  these  matters.  Just  what  institutions  we  find 
in  any  particular  country  will  naturally  depend  upon  how  in 
that  country  the  individual  executive  and  administrative 
functions  are  allotted  to  the  various  municipal  authorities, 
district  councils,  and  such  ad  hoc  authorities  as  may  exist. 

The  Community  at  Large. — Where  the  sphere  of  functional 
activity  of  the  local  authority  and  of  the  central  government 
ends,  there  the  sphere  of  the  community  at  large  begins.  The 
limit  is  that  at  which  the  local  authority  and  the  central 
government  regard  their  duties  as  fulfilled ;  beyond  this  limit 
they  are  unwilling  to  interfere,  and  the  assistance  they  are 
able  to  give  is  no  longer  adapted  to  the  individual  special 
cases,  because  their  work  is  not  individual  but  bureaucratic. 
Beyond  this  limit,  then,  the  community  at  large  must  take 
up  the  burden.  The  benevolent  activities  of  the  community 
at  large  are  better  able  than  those  of  the  central  or  local 
authority  to  deal  Avith  individual  cases.  The  work  of  the 
State  is  done  with  head  and  intellect,  that  of  the  community 
at  large  is  done  with  heart  and  feeling.  But  great  as  these 
advantages  are,  they  are  counterbalanced  by  very  grave  de- 
fects. Child  -  protection  undertaken  by  the  community  at 
large  is  often  nothing  more  than  a  multiplication  of  faineant 
societies,  and  an  arena  for  self-important  busybodies  who 
wish  to  thrust  themselves  well  forward  in  the  public  eye,  but 
are  completely  ignorant  of  the  subject  of  child-protection. 
(In  Germany,  for  instance,  no  subdivision,  however  minute, 
of  the  work  of  child-protection  can  be  mentioned,  which  does 
not  possess  a  special  "Society"  to  deal  with  the  matter.) 
Child-protection  as  undertaken  by  the  community  at  large 
lacks  co-ordination  with  reference  to  any  well-defined  plan  of 
activity,  it  effects  much  that  is  unnecessary  and  even  harm- 
ful, whilst  very  necessary  work  is  often  done  badly  or  not 
at  all.  The  expenditure  of  time  and  money  are  enormous ; 
the  results  attained  are  exceedingly  small. 


The  Executive  Instruments  of  Child- Protection     6i 

Of  late  years,  especially  in  England  and  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  societies  for  the  organisation  of  the  volun- 
tary charitable  activities  undertaken  by  the  community  at 
large  (the  Charity  Organisation  Society,  &c.)  have  come  into 
existence;  these  are  central  organs  to  effect  the  harmonious 
co-ordination  of  philanthropic  efforts,  but  do  not  usually  them- 
selves directly  undertake  charitable  work.  Such  societies  may 
play  a  very  useful  part,  but  they  do  not  render  the  organisation 
and  administration  of  poor-relief  and  child-protection  by  the 
central  government  and  the  local  authority  altogether  super- 
fluous. A  very  instructive  example  of  the  centralisation  of 
voluntary  activities  for  child-protection  is  that  furnished  by 
the  Ungarische  Kinderschutzliga  (Hungarian  Child-Protection 
League),  founded  in  the  year  1906.  It  is  gradually  absorbing 
all  the  really  valuable  child-protection  societies,  founds  and 
administers  all  kinds  of  institutions  for  child-protection,  is 
directly  associated  with  all  the  executive  instruments  of  the 
official  work  of  child-protection,  and  sustains  and  amplifies  the 
work  of  government  in  this  direction.  Its  work  is  supervised 
from  a  central  office  in  Buda-Pesth. 

Tlie  Central  Government. — The  central  government  must, 
first  of  all,  undertake  those  duties  which,  for  financial  reasons, 
the  municipal  authorities,  district  councils,  ad  hoc  authorities, 
&c.  cannot  attempt.  It  must  also  satisfy  certain  general  needs 
— that  is,  those  needs  whose  mode  of  satisfaction  is  unaffected 
by  varying  local  conditions.  As  in  other  departments  of  ad- 
ministrative activity,  so  also  in  the  sphere  of  child-protection, 
a  certain  uniformity  is  requisite;  and  this  uniformity  can  be 
attained  in  no  other  way  than  by  the  intervention  of  the 
central  government.  The  satisfaction  of  very  pressing  needs, 
the  overcoming  of  extraordinary  difiiculties,  is  possible  only  to 
the  central  government.  Even  in  those  countries  in  which 
local  self-government  is  in  a  very  advanced  state  of  develop- 
ment, it  is  better  that  such  legislative  activity  as  is  requisite 
in  the  domain  of  child-protection  should  be  left  to  the  central 
government. 

The  central  government  more  readily  takes  over  the  duties 
of  child-protection  from  the  hands  of  the  community  at  large 
than  from  the  local  authorities.     As  time  goes  on,  ecclesiastical 


62  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

and  voluntary  benevolent  activities  become  ever  less  im- 
portant and  less  extensive  as  compared  witb  those  of  the 
State.  AVhereas  in  ancient  times  private  benevolence,  and  in 
the  Middle  Ages  ecclesiastical  benevolence,  played  the  principal 
parts,  in  our  own  times  these  are  more  and  more  superseded 
by  organised  communal  effort  operating  through  the  central 
government.  At  first  the  State  takes  over  only  the  negative 
side  of  destitution — police  regulation  of  mendicancy  and  the 
like.  To-day  there  does  not  remain  a  single  civilised  State 
without  at  least  the  first  beginnings  of  a  national  relief  of 
destitution.  The  tendency  to  extend  ever  more  widely  the 
province  of  national  responsibility  for  the  relief  of  destitution 
is  quite  unmistakable.  Those  who  oppose  this  tendency  are 
already  in  a  minority,  and  their  number  continues  to  diminish. 
State  systems  of  poor-relief  are  by  no  means  faultless,  but  the 
errors  are  not  ineradicable  ;  many  of  the  defects  are  remediable, 
and  are,  in  fact,  being  remedied  as  time  goes  on.  In  this 
respect  the  tendency  of  evolution  in  England,  the  classical 
land  of  national  poor-relief,  is  extremely  satisfactory. 

The  central  government  is  harder  to  move,  has  more 
inertia,  than  the  community  at  large.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  new  departments  of  activity  are  always  first  undertaken 
by  the  latter,  and  for  this  reason  also  that  most  of  the  sub- 
divisions and  institutions  of  child-protection  owe  their  inception 
and  the  first  phases  of  theh  development  mainly  to  the  com- 
munity at  large.  But  after  this  stage,  when  the  new  institution 
has  been  put  upon  its  trial,  when  it  has  become  generally 
diffused,  and  when  its  permanence  is  assured,  it  is  taken  over 
by  the  State.  But,  even  then,  there  still  remains  one  field  of 
activity  for  the  community  at  large,  namely,  to  discover  and 
draw  attention  to  the  errors  in  the  State  administration  of 
child-protection.  The  development  in  Hungary  of  institutions 
for  the  care  of  foundlings  and  other  illegitimate  children  since 
the  beginning  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century 
may  serve  as  an  example  of  this. 

Every  social  institution  which  originates  on  a  broad  basis 
and  meets  a  wide  general  need  exhibits  a  natural  tendency 
towards  a  unified  organisation  and  towards  centralisation.  We 
see  this  tendency  at  work  in  the  history  of  child-protection. 


The  Executive  Instruments  of  Child-Protection     63 

Another  tendency  of  evolution  is  an  enlargement  in  the  sphere 
of  activity  of  the  State,  in  the  direction  of  the  satisfaction  of 
all  the  important  vital  needs  of  the  community  by  organised 
communal  effort,  operating  through  the  machinery  of  the 
central  government. 

The  national  acceptance  of  responsibility  for  poor-relief 
may  take  the  form  of  the  State  being  satisfied  with  the  cen- 
tralised and  thorough  governmental  regulation  of  the  relief 
of  destitution,  the  administrative  details  being  left  in  the 
hands  of  the  local  authorities  and  of  the  community  at  large. 
Of  course  this  is  no  more  than  a  half-measure,  and  yet  in 
certain  circumstances  it  may  be  an  advantageous  division  of 
labour.  For,  when  we  consider  the  respective  roles  of  the 
local  authority  and  of  the  community  at  large  in  the  work  of 
child-protection,  we  must  not  forget  that  both  are  engaged  in 
work  delegated  to  them  by  the  State,  and  for  which  the  State 
is  really  responsible.  Moreover,  the  relief  of  destitution,  and 
that  part  of  the  work  of  child-protection  analogous  to  the 
relief  of  destitution,  are  intimately  associated  with  the  prob- 
lems of  household-right  and  of  domicile ;  because  many 
central  governments  admit  responsibility  for  the  destitute 
only  in  the  case  of  their  own  citizens,  whilst  in  many  coun- 
tries a  right  to  relief  in  case  of  destitution  at  the  hands  of  the 
local  authority  is  acquired  by  residence  merely.  Thus  the 
problems  of  child-protection  are  interconnected  with  the  legal 
problems  of  local  administrative  activity ;  and  it  may  happen 
that  the  local  authorities  undertake  certain  departments  of 
child-protection  merely  because  these  questions  of  domicile 
form  part  of  their  circle  of  interests. 

A  Unified  System  of  Laws  for  Child- Protectio7i. — Can  the 
State  institute  a  unified  system  of  laws  for  child-protection, 
one  comprising  the  entire  legal  material  of  child-protection  ? 
"In  former  times  such  provision  as  there  was  for  child-pro- 
tection existed  only  in  a  dispersed  form,  as  part  of  laws  with 
other  primary  objects ;  not  until  later,  when  the  question  of 
child-protection  had  become  one  of  considerable  importance, 
did  laws  come  into  being  dealing  specifically  with  this  subject. 
Provision  for  the  enforcement  in  certain  cases  of  a  coercive 
reformatory  education  was   originally  a   mere   supplementary 


64  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

provision  of  the  criminal  law  or  of  certain  borough  by-laws; 
but  to-day,  in  many  countries,  special  laws  dealing  with  coercive 
reformatory  education  have  been  passed  by  the  central  govern- 
ment. The  earliest  special  laws  on  the  subject  of  child-protec- 
tion dealt  with  the  care  of  foundlings  and  illegitimate  children, 
this  being  the  first  subdivision  of  our  subject  to  attain  specific 
importance. 

The  tendency  of  evolution  is  to  codify,  in  a  unified  system 
of  laws,  all  the  legal  material  bearing  upon  any  particular 
question.  But  a  unified  system  of  laws  dealing  with  the 
subject  of  child-protection  is  not  at  present  attainable.  For 
child-protection  is  subject  to  change,  almost  from  day  to  day 
and  from  hour  to  hour.  If  the  legislator  wished  to  keep  pace 
with  its  development,  he  would  have  to  alter  and  patch  his 
system  of  laws  year  by  year  ;  but  if  this  were  done,  the  unified 
character  of  the  legal  system  would  soon  become  illusory, 
and  numerous  legal  technical  difficulties  would  inevitably 
arise.  The  question  of  child-protection  finds  a  place  in  every 
department  of  law.  There  are  many  legal  regulations  regard- 
ing children  which,  owing  in  part  to  the  technique  of  legisla- 
tion, and  in  part  to  other  causes,  are,  for  practical  reasons, 
best  embodied  in  other  laws.  For  example,  laws  relating  to 
guardianship  and  to  the  care  of  illegitimate  children  cannot 
well  be  dealt  with  apart  from  the  general  laws  bearing  on  family 
relationships. 

A  Centralised  Authority  for  Child- Protection. — Is  a  centralised 
authority  for  child-protection  possible  ?  That  is,  is  it  possible 
to  group  under  a  unitary  control  all  the  agencies  dealing  with 
the  protection  of  children  ?  This  idea  certainly  represents 
the  tendency  of  evolution.  As  regards  the  care  of  foundlings 
and  of  illegitimate  children,  the  tendency  of  evolution  is  in 
the  direction  of  family  care,  all  the  families  with  which  such 
children  are  placed  being  under  the  supervision  of  a  single 
central  authority,  which  deals  with  them  all  in  accordance 
with  identical  principles.  Still  more  clearly  does  this  tendency 
manifest  itself  in  the  foundation  of  children's  courts,  and  in 
the  endeavour  to  extend  the  powers  of  these  to  embrace  all 
the  legal  relationships  of  children.  In  further  exemplifica- 
tion of  this  tendency  may  be  mentioned  the  development  of 


The  Executive  Instruments  of  Child- Protection     65 

infants'  milk  depots  and  of  schools  for  mothers — a  develop- 
ment -which  has  by  no  means  reached  its  climax.  Unques- 
tionably,' in  the  domain  of  child-protection,  institutions  which 
originally  appeared  very  different  in  character  become  unified. 
Thus,  infants'  milk  depots,  schools  for  mothers,  schools  for 
wet-nurses,  legal  advice  in  children's  cases,  &c.,  are  now  all 
being  administered  in  connection  with  foundling  hospitals. 

The  claims  of  the  other  departments  of  national  and  social 
life  must  not,  however,  be  left  out  of  account.  Thus,  whether 
certain  questions  should  be  referred  to  the  law-courts,  or  to 
the  local  administrative  authorities,  to  lawyers  or  doctors,  to 
architects  or  schoolmasters;  whether  a  local  administrative 
authority  should  have  the  right  to  deal  with  one  or  two  technical 
questions  only,  such  as  arise  in  a  particular  administrative 
area  as  to  legal  and  executive  powers,  or  with  a  number  of 
such  questions ;  whether  certain  duties  should  be  undertaken 
only  by  specialised  institutions,  or  by  institutions  which  also 
subserve  other  functions — such  questions  as  these  mvolve  a 
reference  to  other  considerations  in  addition  to  those  directly 
connected  with  child-protection. 

Private  and  Official  Activities. — To-day  much  of  the  work 
of  the  relief  of  destitution  and  of  child-protection  is  under- 
taken by  voluntary  organisations,  founded  and  administered 
by  private  individuals  who  are  engaged  also  in  other  activities. 
These  private  persons  work  gratuitously,  but  often  discharge 
their  duties  better  than  professional  salaried  and  permanently 
appointed  officials.  Their  work  is  better  individualised,  it  is 
less  bureaucratic,  and  has  more  heart  in  it.  These  advantages 
are  the  fruit  of  good-will  and  altruistic  feeling.  Neverthe- 
less the  role  of  voluntary  societies  becomes  continually  less 
extensive.  The  tendency  of  evolution  is  to  bring  into  opera- 
tion more  and  more  the  principle  of  the  division  of  labour, 
so  that  questions  needing  expert  knowledge  are  dealt  with 
by  professional  experts,  persons  permanently  appointed  for 
such  work,  paid  accordingly,  and  really  in  possession  of  the 
specialised  skill  which  is  needed.  The  relief  of  destitution, 
and  child-protection  are,  as  is  well  known,  both  questions  for 
experts ;  and  it  becomes  more  and  more  necessary  that  their 
administration  should  be  in  the  hands  of  well-paid  professional 

E 


66  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

workers.  Lawyers,  although  in  the  domain  of  child-protection 
they  are  laymen  merely,  play  a  decisive  part  to-day  in  this 
domain,  as  they  do  in  most  branches  of  administrative  activity. 
They  are  placed  at  the  head  of  the  expert  administrators,  and 
have,  if  not  the  first  word,  what  is  perhaps  even  worse,  the 
last  word,  in  the  majority  of  technical  questions.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  enter  an  energetic  protest  against  this  predominance 
of  lawyers.  It  is  absolutely  essential  that  not  only  the 
salaried  professional  workers,  but  also  all  those  who  take  part 
in  the  work  of  child-protection  in  honorary  offices  or  as 
occasional  voluntary  helpers,  should  receive  an  appropriate 
training  for  their  work.  Quite  recently  has  originated  the 
idea  of  Schools  of  Public  Welfare — Schools  and  a  Curriculum 
for  Child-Protection.  We  must  carefully  distinguish  from 
such  schools  for  professional  workers,  courses  of  lectures  whose 
purpose  merely  is  to  acquaint  wider  circles  with  the  aims 
and  methods  of  child-protection,  or  to  initiate  novices  into 
such  work. 

The  Medical  Frofession.— The  most  important  task  of  child- 
protection  is  the  protection  of  children's  health.  The  persons 
who  should  undertake  the  management  of  this  department 
are  those  who  possess  the  requisite  expert  knowledge  in 
matters  of  health — that  is  to  say,  medical  practitioners  and 
specialists  in  the  diseases  of  children.  In  most  branches  of 
child-protection,  medical  practitioners  now  play  an  important 
part.  It  rests  with  them  to  determine  whether  there  does 
or  does  not  exist  a  contra-indication  to  marriage.  They  have 
to  render  assistance  before  and  during  childbirth,  they  are 
the  most  important  instruments  for  the  protection  of  infants 
and  for  the  care  of  foundlings  and  illegitimate  children,  and 
as  consultants  and  administrators  they  exercise  important 
activities  in  the  domain  of  child-labour.  Their  part  in  other 
subdivisions  of  child-protection  will  be  discussed  in  detail  in 
a  later  chapter  of  this  work.  The  importance  of  the  work 
of  medical  practitioners  continually  increases.  The  tendency 
in  almost  all  departments  of  child-protection  is  to  arrange  for 
a  preliminary  examination  of  the  children  by  the  doctor. 
Among  the  various  reasons  for  such  an  examination,  we  may 
mention   that   in    the    case    of   uncontrollable    children    and 


The  Executive  Instruments  of  Child- Protection     6^ 

juvenile  criminals  the  doctor  can  make  a  thorough  examina- 
tion of  the  child's  physical  and  mental  condition,  and  upon 
this  examination  he  will  base  a  decision,  whether  the  child 
should  be  placed  in  family  or  institutional  care,  in  a  reforma- 
tory school,  or  in  some  other  specialised  institution — as,  for 
example,  a  home  for  mentally  abnormal  children ;  further,  it 
is  the  doctor's  duty  to  examine  all  children,  before  they  begin 
to  work  for  a  living,  as  to  their  physical  fitness,  and  upon  the 
results  of  this  examination  to  base  an  opinion  whether  the 
child  is  fit  to  earn  its  living  at  all,  and  if  so,  whether  the  trade 
selected  by  the  relatives  is  a  suitable  one.  The  tendency  is, 
further,  that  the  doctor  should  give  an  opinion  regarding  the 
method  of  protection  suited  for  the  particular  child.  Quite 
recently,  indeed,  the  desire  has  been  widely  and  strongly 
expressed  that  all  children  should  be  subjected  to  continuous 
and  appropriate  medical  control.  The  institution  of  school 
physicians,  supplemented  in  recent  days  by  medical  control 
of  the  domestic  environment  of  the  school  children,  shows 
clearly  that  such  medical  supervision  of  all  children  is  likely 
in  time  to  become  universal.  In  addition,  we  owe  a  great 
deal  to  the  doctors  in  connection  with  the  literature  of  child- 
protection.  The  ablest  and  most  important  works  in  this 
specialty  are  by  physicians.  In  several  handbooks  of  hygiene, 
most  of  the  problems  of  child-protection  receive  attention, 
although  the  matter  is  not  always  treated  very  systematically. 
The  enormous  influence  which  medical  science  has  exercised 
and  continues  to  exercise  upon  the  development  of  the  indivi- 
dual branches  of  child-protection  will  become  apparent  in  the 
Special  Part  of  this  work. 

Women. — To  what  extent  can  women  play  a  part  as 
executive  instruments  of  child-protection  ?  Women  are 
better  fitted  than  men  to  supervise  the  bodily  care  of 
children.  Women  can  more  readily  gain  the  confidence  of 
those  who  need  support  and  protection — above  all,  the  confi- 
dence of  other  women  (especially  of  lonely  and  forsaken 
women)  and  of  children.  They  are  better  judges  than  men 
of  defects  in  housekeeping  and  how  to  remedy  them.  Many 
things  are  confided  to  women  which  are  kept  hidden  from 
men ;  and  women  can  remedy  many  concealed  defects  where 


68  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

men  could  do  no  good.     Such  duties  as  these  are  commonly 
performed  by  women  more  conscientiously  than  by  men,  &c. 

The  following  arguments  have  been  put  forward  against 
the  employment  of  women:  {a)  Women  ought  not  to  be 
exposed  to  the  dangers  and  inconveniences  inseparable  from 
visiting  the  houses  of  the  poor  and  other  places  subject 
to  inspection;  (5)  Women  are  gossiping,  soft-hearted,  and 
credulous,  so  that  they  are  unable  to  exercise  authority,  and 
are  inclined  to  pay  undue  attention  to  exaggerated  and 
quite  irrelevant  statements;  (c)  They  interfere  too  much  in 
the  management  of  the  households  of  the  foster-parents,  &c. 

These  arguments  are  worthless.  Besides,  the  question  of 
the  employment  of  women  in  such  capacities  can  only  be 
decided  fairly  with  reference  to  the  individual  subdivisions  of 
the  work  of  child-protection.  Unquestionably,  women  are 
suitably  employed  as  children's  nurses,  matrons  of  children's 
homes,  governesses  and  school-mistresses,  wet-nurses,  medical 
practitioners,  factory  inspectors,  sick-nurses,  confidential  agents 
of  the  official  guardians  of  children,  visitors  of  foster-parents. 
Where  the  common  people  have  no  confidence  in  women 
employees,  for  example,  in  rough,  uncultivated  districts,  where, 
in  the  interests  of  child-protection,  police  intervention  is 
necessary,  as,  for  example,  in  the  case  of  morally  depraved  and 
uncontrollable  children,  and  where  trusteeship  has  to  be 
undertaken  as  in  the  case  of  orphan  children  who  are  heirs 
to  considerable  property,  women  cannot  be  employed.  The 
tendency  of  evolution  is  to  employ  women  as  executive  instru- 
ments of  child-protection,  and,  indeed,  to  employ  them  as 
salaried  public  officials. 

Numerous  and  serious  objections  must,  however,  be  raised 
against  the  idea  that  ladies  belonging  to  the  upper  classes 
should  find  amusement  and  reUef  from  the  tedium  of  their 
ordinary  life  by  engaging  in  some  branch  of  the  work  of 
child-protection  (such  as  supervising  the  work  of  midwives, 
or  visiting  the  foster-parents  of  boarded-out  children).  The 
work  of  such  women  is  of  little  value  in  itself,  and  it  takes 
bread  out  of  the  mouths  of  women  who  could  do  the  same 
work  very  much  better  professionally  and  as  a  means  of 
livelihood. 


SPECIAL    PART 


^.—DEPARTMENT   OF   CIVIL   LAW   AND 
INDIVIDUAL   RIGHTS 

CHAPTER   I 
MAREIAGE   AND   PARENTAL   AUTHORITY 

Introdvxtory. — The  two  chief  purposes  of  human  life  are, 
first,  the  maintenance  of  the  individuals  of  the  species,  and, 
secondly,  the  reproduction  of  the  species.  The  laws  relating 
to  property  subserve  the  former  aim ;  those  relating  to  the 
family  subserve  the  latter.  Property  itself  is  the  central 
feature  of  the  former,  and  the  family  is  the  central  feature  of 
the  latter. 

Parental  Authority  and  Marriage. — The  laws  of  family  life 
are  based  upon  a  physiological  or  psychological  foundation, 
the  love  of  parents  for  their  children.  In  cases  in  which  the 
legal  regulation  of  family  life  is  unduly  harsh — as  in  the  case 
of  the  maintenance  in  former  times  of  parental  authority  in 
the  interest  of  the  parents — parental  love  exercises  a  mitigat- 
ing and  counteracting  influence. 

To-day,  the  duty  of  parents  to  devote  themselves  to  the 
careful  upbringing  of  their  children  is  universally  accepted 
on  principle.  (There  is  but  one  exception  to  this  generalisa- 
tion :  the  duty  of  the  father  to  provide  for  the  upbringing  of 
an  illegitimate  child  is  not  as  yet  generally  accepted  on 
principle.)  The  duty  of  parents  to  provide  for  the  up- 
bringing of  their  children  is  one  prescribed,  not  only  by 
nature  and  morality,  but  also  by  the  laws  of  human  society. 
And  yet  this  duty  is  not  directly  established  by  law ;  although 
it  seems  possible  that  children  might  be  able  to  enforce  by 
legal  process  the  duty  of  their  parents  to  exercise  their 
parental  authority  in  accordance  with  accepted  rules.      The 


72  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

obligation  to  provide  for  the  upbringing  of  their  children  is 
legally  imposed  on  parents,  if  only  for  the  reason  that  the 
liabilities  thus  incurred  through  the  sexual  act  withhold 
many  persons  from  needless  and  excessive  sexual  indulgence 
— and  such  conditional  abstinence  is  advantageous,  not  merely 
to  the  individual,  but  also  to  the  community.  The  upbring- 
ing of  children  rests  upon  the  legal  basis  of  parental  authority. 
The  suitable  upbringing  of  the  offspring  is  best  ensured  when 
the  legal  relationships  between  the  sexes  are  properly  regu- 
lated. In  all  times,  the  essence  of  such  regulation  has 
consisted  in  the  fact  that  a  particular  form  of  sexual  union 
offers  certain  advantages,  but  that  the  acceptance  of  these 
advantages  involves  the  performance  of  certain  duties.  This 
particular  form  of  sexual  union  is  known  as  marriage. 

History  of  Marriage. — It  is  a  debatable  question  whether 
matriarchy  ever  really  existed.  The  question  interests  us 
here  only  for  the  reason  that  many  modern  scholars,  includ- 
ing many  Socialists,  contend  that  matriarchy  did  at  one  time 
really  exist ;  and  they  infer  from  this  that  a  time  will  come 
in  which  the  sexes  will  have  equal  rights.  In  actual  fact,  in 
recent  times,  the  importance  of  patriarchy — the  father  right — 
has  continually  diminished. 

Child- Protection  and  the  Family. — An  overwhelmingly  large 
proportion  of  child-protection  to-day  is  mainly  concerned  with 
cases  in  which  children  have  (in  one  sense  or  another, 
materially  or  morally,  permanently  or  temporarily,  wholly  or 
partially)  been  abandoned  by  their  parents.  Such  cases  are 
those  in  which :  {a)  the  parents  are  unable  to  fulfil  their 
duties,  on  account  of  lack  of  means,  illness,  or  absence ; 
{I)  the  parents  are  unwilling  to  fulfil  their  duties;  {c)  the 
parents  make  an  improper  use  of  their  parental  authority. 
But  certain  children  also  need  protection  from  the  community 
who  cannot  in  any  sense  whatever  be  said  to  have  been 
abandoned  by  their  parents ;  and  it  is  altogether  erroneous 
to  suppose  that  the  idea  of  "  child-protection  "  has  reference 
solely  to  abandoned  children.  The  child  is  born  in  a  state  of 
complete  helplessness,  and  is  unable  to  protect  itself,  not  only 
immediately  after  birth,  but  for  a  considerable  time  after- 
wards.     It  lacks   the  requisite  organs   for  self-protection,  it 


Marriage  and  Parental  Authority 


/o 


lacks  power,  and  it  lacks  instinctive  knowledge.  For  these 
reasons,  if  our  legal  system  makes  provision  for  the  protection 
of  adults,  a  fortiori  must  it  do  so,  and  to  a  greater  extent,  in 
the  case  of  children.  From  all  these  considerations  it  follows 
that  the  most  important  relationships  of  child-protection  are 
not,  as  is  commonly  assumed,  with  criminal  law  and  with 
local  administrative  activity,  but  with  civil  law  and  indi- 
vidual rights.  The  kind  and  degree  of  child-protection, 
depend  chiefly  upon  the  mutual  relationships  existing  between 
the  State  and  the  family.  The  institutions  of  child-protection,  \ 
in  so  far  as  they  are  associated  with  civil  law  and  individual  i 
rights,  will,  as  a  rule,  be  found  to  be  preventive  in  character ;  J 
institutions  based  upon  criminal  law,  on  the  other  hand, 
commonly  exhibit  punitive  and  repressive  tendencies,  as  will 
become  apparent  when  a  number  of  concrete  instances  are 
studied.  If  the  legal  relationships  of  family  life  undergo 
changes,  the  methods  of  child  -  protection  will  also  be 
transformed. 

Maternal  Authority. — In  the  matter  of  love  for  the  off- 
spring the  mother,  for  physiological  reasons  (pregnancy, 
parturition,  and  lactation),  stands  on  a  higher  plane  than 
the  father.  The  intensity  of  her  love  for  her  children 
explains  the  fact  that  the  mother  neither  needs  nor  exer- 
cises much  parental  authority.  Moreover,  inasmuch  as 
hitherto  the  mother  has  always  been  in  a  state  of  greater 
or  less  subjection  to  the  father,  parental  authority  has  at 
all  times  chiefly  taken  the  form  of  paternal  authority.  But 
as  time  goes  on,  this  paternal  authority  is,  m  fact,  tending  to 
be  transformed  very  gradually  into  a  true  parental  authority  ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  mother  begins  to  exercise  the  rights  and 
to  perform  the  duties  of  parental  authority  in  a  manner 
parallel  with  or  subsidiary  to  that  of  the  father.  To-day 
we  stand  at  the  beginning  of  this  development.  Its  chief 
cause  is  the  profound  transformation  of  economic  life,  as  a 
result  of  which  women  are  to  an  ever  greater  extent  entering 
the  arena  as  wage-earners,  whilst  the  differences  between  the 
legal  position  of  men  and  women  continually  diminish. 

Fiduciary  Cha.racter  of  Parental  Authority.  —  Formerly, 
parental    authority    took    the    form    mainly    of    a    right    of 


74  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

dominion  over  the  child,  subserving  chiefly  the  interests  of 
the  head  of  the  family — the  patriarch.     The  more  complete 
the  social  integration  of  any  particular  country,  the  more  in 
that    country    does    paternal    authority    assume    a    fiduciary 
character,   the   character    of    a  protective   authority,   arising 
out  of  the  child's  natural  need  for  protection,  and  subserving 
its   need    for   guardianship.       Owing    to    their    possession  of 
parental  authority,  it  is  the  duty  and  the  right  of  the  parents  to 
;  exercise  the  guardianship  over  their  children  in  every  capacity ; 
I  as  the  legal  representatives  of  those  of  their  children  who  are 
I  still  under  age,  the  parents  are  competent  to  act  on  behalf  of 
I  and  in  the  name  of  their  children.     Thus  the  second  charac- 
teristic of  the  developmental  tendency  of  parental  authority 
is,  that  that   authority  involves  the  acceptance  of  an   ever- 
increasing  number  of  duties,  and  also  that  the  State,  through 
the   intermediation   of  Boards  of  Guardianship  ^   exercises   a 
control   over    the    parents    which    was    almost    unknown    in 
former  times. 

In  the  modern  State,  the  following  ideas  as  to  parental 
authority  are  generally  prevalent.  Parental  authority  involves 
duties  as  well  as  rights.  Our  laws  give  rights  to  parents  only 
in  order  to  enable  them  to  fulfil  their  duties.  They  are,  in 
a  sense,  plenipotentiaries  of  the  State,  entrusted  with  the  duty 
of  bringing  up  their  children  in  a  state  of  bodily,  mental,  and 
moral  health,  and  of  ensuring  that  these  children  shall  develop 
in  such  a  way  that  they  will  be  useful  to  society.  To  enable 
them  to  attain  these  ends,  parents  are  endowed  with  certain 
rights.  Just  as,  in  the  matter  of  public  education,  the  State 
enforces  upon  the  child  a  minimum  of  school  attendance,  even 
against  the  wishes  of  the  parents,  so  also,  in  the  general 
upbringing  of  children,  the  State  enforces  a  certain  standard, 
with  which  all  parents  have  to  comply. 

The  Elementary  Frinciples  of  State  Interference  with  Parental 

^  Boards  of  Guardianship. — This  term  is  not  used  in  the  sense  in  which  in 
England  we  speak  of  Boards  of  Guardians,  to  denote  the  ad  hoc  local  authorities 
which  administer  the  English  Poor  Law,  but  to  denote  local  committees  which, 
in  the  continental  system  of  child-protection,  administer  the  functions  for  which 
the  State  is  responsible  in  its  capacity  of  "Over-Parent"  (an  expressive  and 
convenient  term  we  owe  to  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells).  Dr.  Engel  suggests  Court  of 
Orphans  or  Court  of  Wards  as  alternate  English  terms.— Teanslatok's  Note. 


Marriage  and  Parental  Atithority  75 

Authority.  {The  State  as  "  Over- Parent") — The  modern  State 
interferes  with  parental  authority  in  accordance  with  the 
following'  principles.  It  is  impossible  for  the  State  to  super- 
vise in  detail  the  domestic  life  of  millions  of  families,  or  to 
examine  the  soundness  of  the  upbringing  which  millions  of 
parents  provide  for  their  children.  For  these  reasons,  the 
State  can  intervene  only  in  cases  in  which  the  conviction 
arises  that  by  the  conduct  of  the  parents  the  mental  or 
physical  well-being  of  the  child  has  been  endangered,  and 
thereby  the  interest  of  the  State  seriously  threatened.  If  one 
endowed  with  parental  authority  has  disturbed  the  natural 
foundations  of  that  authority  by  criminal  offences  or  immoral 
conduct,  and  has  thus  shown  himself  unworthy  of  the  con- 
fidence exhibited  in  him  by  the  State  which  has  hitherto 
permitted  b^m  to  exercise  parental  authority,  the  State  is  fully 
justified  in  depriving  him  of  his  delegated  powers.  In  its 
own  interest,  in  such  cases,  the  State  is  compelled  to  withdraw 
the  parental  authority  wholly  or  partially,  and  even  to  order 
that  the  child  shall  be  removed  from  its  parents'  house,  to  be 
brought  up  in  a  suitable  family,  in  a  reformatory  school,  or  in/ 
some  other  mstitution  {Zwangserziehung,  Fursorgeerzichung). 

The  legislator  is  not  in  a  position  to  define  in  precise 
terms  the  cases  in  which  parental  authority  should  be  with- 
drawn, or  the  child  transferred  to  other  guardianship  than 
that  of  the  parents;  it  must  suffice  to  explain  the  general 
principles  which  the  Boards  of  Guardianship  (see  note  on  last 
page)  have  to  apply  at  their  own  discretion. 

There  can  be  no  question  of  the  need  for  State  interference 
when  the  parents  are  leading  a  disorderly  or  immoral  life ; 
when  they  are  ill-using  or  exploiting  their  child  ;  when  they  are 
quite  ignorant  of  the  proper  way  of  bringing  up  children ;  or 
when,  owing  to  severe  illness,  alcoholism,  morphinism,  or  utter 
destitution,  they  are  obviously  unfitted  to  bring  up  their  own 
children.  Since  long  drawn-out  proceedings  in  the  law  courts 
are  desirable  in  the  interests  neither  of  the  parents  nor  of  the 
children,  it  is  better  that  the  procedure  in  these  cases  should 
not  in  the  first  instance  necessarily  involve  an  application  to 
the  law  courts.  But  the  parents  mast  have  the  right  of 
appeal  to  the  courts,  if  they  consider  they  have  been  unjustly 


76  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

treated  by  depriving  them  of  the  custody  of  their  child. 
Although  the  institution  of  such  education  under  guardian- 
ship must  not  be  made  dependent  upon  the  financial  position 
of  the  parents,  these  latter  should  be  made  responsible  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  cost.  Unless  this  were  done,  for  parents 
to  neglect  their  children  would  be  a  step  towards  shaking  off  a 
financial  burden — those  parents  would  be  rewarded  who  failed 
to  bring  up  their  children  properly ;  this  would  naturally  still 
further  weaken  the  parents'  sense  of  responsibility;  and  this 
again,  by  a  vicious  circle,  would  still  further  encourage  them 
to  neglect  their  children.  Indeed,  we  have  to  ask  whether,  in 
the  case  of  parents  able  to  pay,  an  effective  system  of  forced 
labour  might  not  be  introduced. 

The  withdrawal  of  parental  authority  must  on  no  account 
be  regarded  as  a  punishment.  There  may  be  cases  in  which 
the  parents  are  quite  blameless,  and  yet  in  the  interests  of  the 
child  it  may  be  absolutely  necessary  to  abrogate  the  parental 
authority ;  or,  in  similar  cases,  it  may  be  necessary,  for  educa- 
tional purposes,  to  remove  the  child  from  its  home.  Again, 
it  often  happens,  for  example,  that  only  the  father  is  to  blame, 
and  yet  the  mother  cannot  be  permitted  to  exercise  her  parental 
authority,  but  the  child  must  be  removed  from  its  home, 
because  in  no  other  way  can  the  harmful  influence  of  the 
father  be  overcome.  There  are  worthy  parents  who,  simply 
from  an  excessive  blind  affection  for  their  children,  fail  to 
bring  them  up  properly;  there  are  worthy  working-class 
parents  who  have  positively  no  time  to  attend  satisfactorily  to 
the  upbringing  of  their  children. 


CHAPTER   II 

MARRIAGE   AND   HEREDITY 

Heredity  in  General. — Heredity  is  a  general  phenomenon  of 
natural  life.  The  offspring  resembles  the  parent  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree.  In  the  human  species,  also,  children  on  the 
average  resemble  their  own  parents  more  closely  than  they 
resemble  other  persons,  but  the  degree  to  which  this  resem- 
blance is  manifested  is  a  variable  one,  and  it  remains  an  open 
question  whether  the  concrete  qualities  and  capabilities  where- 
by the  parents  are  distinguished  from  other  persons  are  trans- 
mitted to  their  offspring  by  inheritance.  It  is  possible  that 
the  qualities  of  the  parents  may  not  appear  at  all  in  the 
children;  that  they  may  appear  somewhat  modified,  or  in  a 
very  different  form ;  that  they  may  remain  latent  in  one  or 
more  generations,  to  reappear  in  the  grandchildren  or  great- 
grandchildren ;  or  that  the  qualities  of  the  parents  may  not 
appear  to  be  present  in  the  children  at  birth,  but  that  as  the 
latter  grow  up,  these  qualities  may  make  their  appearance  at 
the  same  age  at  which  they  appeared  in  the  parents.  It  is 
still  in  dispute  whether  qualities  acquired  by  the  parents  are 
inherited  by  the  offspring ;  nor  is  there  general  agreement  as 
to  what  are  the  precise  limits  between  inherited  and  acquired 
characters,  respectively.  This  question  as  to  the  inheritance 
of  acquired  characters  is  one  of  profound  importance;  for  if 
acquired  characters  are  not  inherited,  racial  improvement  can 
be  effected  solely  by  means  of  the  struggle  for  existence,  and 
the  continued  elimination  of  the  weaker  elements  of  the 
species.^ 

1  Unless  and  until  humanity  is  able  and  willing  to  apply  its  intelligence 
to  purposive  racial  improvement,  by  discouragement  of  the  procreation  of  the 
less  fit,  and  by  encouragement  of  the  iirocrcation  of  the  more  fit— by  an  appli- 
cation, that  is  to  say,  of  the  principle  of  negative  or  restrictive  eugenics,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  principle  of  positive  or  constructive  eugenics,  on  the  other. 
— Translatok's  Note. 

77 


yS  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

Inheritance  of  Diseases. — The  word  "  disease  "  is  used  here 
in  the  widest  possible  signification.  Diseased  parents  as  a  rule 
procreate  diseased  children,  or  bring  up  diseased  individuals. 
But  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  defects  of  the  parents 
may  make  their  appearance  in  the  children  in  a  transmuted 
form.  A  disease  in  the  parent,  when  transmitted  by  inherit- 
ance, may  appear  in  the  offspring  as  general  weakness,  either 
bodily,  mental,  or  moral ;  or  it  may  appear  in  the  form  of  a 
predisposition  to  the  particular  disease  ;  and  conversely,  that 
which  in  the  parent  is  no  more  than  predisposition  to  a  disease, 
may  appear  in  the  offspring  in  the  form  of  the  actual  disease. 
In  concrete  instances,  it  may  be  very  difficult  to  determine 
whether  persons  are  or  are  not  diseased.  Again,  with  respect 
to  atavism  and  to  the  hereditary  transmission  of  latent  qualities, 
it  is  questionable  whether,  in  cases  in  which  the  subject  of  in- 
vestigation is  not  himself  affected  with  disease,  but  his  near 
relatives  are  so  affected,  we  have  reason  to  fear  the  hereditary 
transmission  of  harmful  consequences  to  the  offspring.  It  is 
especially  with  regard  to  the  male  sex  that  the  question  of 
the  hereditary  transmission  of  morbid  qualities  is  so  important, 
for,  in  marriage,  it  is  the  male  partner  who  contributes  the 
greater  proportion  of  the  diseases. 

It  is  not  through  inheritance  only  that  diseases  may  be 
transmitted  from  parents  to  children  ;  the  same  result  may 
follow  from  the  fact  that  parents  and  children  live  in  such 
close  association,  or  because  children  are  brought  up  by  their 
parents.  The  existence  of  morbid  qualities  or  conditions  in 
the  parents  may  lead  in  the  offspring,  not  only  to  the  inherit- 
ance of  disease,  but  to  other  disastrous  results.  Morbid 
conditions  in  either  parent,  besides  being  transmitted  to  the 
offspring  by  inheritance,  may  be  communicated  by  the  husband 
to  the  wife,  or  by  the  wife  to  the  husband,  either  in  the  act  of 
sexual  intercourse,  or  through  the  close  association  of  married 
life.  Parents  suffering  from  disease  cannot  bring  up  their 
children  properly.  The  treatment  of  their  own  illness  may  be 
very  costly,  and  may  involve  the  expenditure  of  much  time 
and  pains,  and  these  things  work  adversely  to  the  interest  of 
the  children.  Sickly  parents  whose  children  are  likewise  sickly 
are  apt  to  endeavour  to  make  up  for  the  deficient  quality  of 


Marriage  and  Heredity  79 

their  offspring  by  an  increase  in  their  number,  whereby  matters 
are  made  considerably  worse.  Those  who  enter  into  marriage 
when  ah'eady  ill  are  apt  subsequently  to  reproach  themselves 
upon  their  conduct  towards  their  sexual  partners ;  this  is  likely 
to  react  unfavourably  upon  the  illness,  and  to  disturb  the 
married  life,  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  children.  Sickly 
parents  die  sooner  than  healthy  ones,  whereby  the  children 
are  prematurely  orphaned,  and  are  exposed  to  the  dangers  of 
poverty.  The  state  of  engagement  to  marry  (with  conse- 
quent ungratified  sexual  excitement  up  to  the  time  of 
marriage),  sexual  intercourse,  pregnancy,  and  childbirth,  may 
all  exercise  an  unfavourable  influence  upon  the  diseased 
organism,  may  favour  or  accelerate  the  course  of  the 
disease,  and  may  even  lead  to  its  fatal  issue.  From  the 
children's  point  of  view,  all  these  things  are  extremely  un- 
desirable. Thus,  there  are  certain  persons  to  whom  marriage 
is  permissible,  but  who  should  on  no  account  procreate 
children — that  is  to  say,  such  a  married  pair  may  enjoy 
sexual  congress,  but  must  not  fail  to  use  efficient  means 
for  the  prevention  of  conception. 

Individual  Diseases. — {a)  Of  all  diseases  transmissible  by 
inheritance,  mental  disorders  pass  most  readily  from  parents 
to  offspring,  and  undergo  the  least  alteration  as  they  pass. 
In  the  etiology  of  mental  disorders,  hereditary  transmission 
plays  an  important  part. 

(&)  It  is  still  undecided  whether  alcohol  is  a  specific  pro- 
toplasmic poison ;  but  it  is  an  indisputable  fact  that,  among 
the  offspring  of  those  addicted  to  alcohol,  the  ill  effects  of  the 
parental  alcoholism  may  be  displayed  in  other  ways  besides 
by  the  appearance  of  alcoholic  tendencies  m  the  next  genera- 
tion. The  children  of  drunkards  tend  to  be  cruel,  dissolute, 
dirty  in  their  habits,  hypersensitive,  or  themselves  inclined 
to  drink ;  and  in  any  or  all  of  these  ways  they  may  be  a 
danger  to  society.  For  example,  it  has  been  found  in  wine- 
growing districts  that  the  children  born  in  any  one  year  are 
stupider  in  proportion  as  the  vintage  of  their  birth-year  was 
a  good  one.  Often  the  effects  of  alcohol  are  better  marked 
in  the  children  of  alcoholics  than  in  the  parents  themselves. 
When  both  parents  are  drunkards,  the  children  are  apt  to 


8o  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

suffer  from  moral  insanity;  and  the  offspring  of  drunkards 
tend  to  become  criminals.  Children  whose  parents  were  in 
a  state  of  actual  inebriety  at  the  time  of  procreation  will 
most  probably  be  feeble-minded.  Since  alcohol  increases 
sexual  desire,  even  though  it  diminishes  sexual  potency, 
alcoholics  tend  to  procreate  more  children  than  non-alco- 
holics ;  but  any  advantage  that  might  ensue  from  the  greater 
quantity  of  the  offspring  is  more  than  outbalanced  by  their 
inferior  quality.  And  because  alcohol  strengthens  sexual 
desire,  the  number  of  alcoholics  who  were  procreated  by 
parents  in  a  state  of  inebriety  is  considerable.  Some  experts 
contend  that  if  the  father  is  a  drinker,  the  daughter  is  unable 
to  suckle  her  own  children. 

(c)  What  has  been  said  regarding  alcoholism  applies  also 
to  some  extent  to  morphinism. 

icl)  Tuberculosis  is  not  directly  transmitted  by  inheritance. 
But  the  predisposition  to  tuberculosis  is  so  transmitted ;  that  is 
to  say,  it  is  regarded  as  unquestionable  that  an  inferior  power 
of  resistance  to  the  virus  of  tubercle  passes  by  inheritance 
from  parent  to  offspring.  Those  predisposed  to  tuberculosis 
tend  to  have  a  vigorous  sexual  impulse,  and  exhibit  a  high 
degree  of  fertility. 

(c)  Gonorrhoea  lessens  or  destroys  fertility  to  such  an 
extent  that,  in  from  40  to  50  per  cent,  of  childless  marriages, 
the  sterility  is  referable  to  gonorrhoeal  infection.  Gonorrhcea, 
i.e.  specific  gonorrhoeal  urethritis  or  vaginitis,  is  not  itself 
transmissible  by  inheritance;  but  gonorrhoea  in  the  parent 
may  lead  to  certain  diseases  in  the  offspring,  and  the  most 
important  of  these  is  ophthalmia  of  the  new-born^ — the  com- 
monest cause  of  blindness. 

(/)  Syphilis  is  in  most  cases  transmissible  by  in- 
heritance. The  children  of  syphilitic  parents  are  commonly 
feeble-minded  or  idiotic;  or  bodily,  mentally,  or  morally 
degenerate ;  and  they  possess  an  inferior  power  of  resistance 
to  diseases. 

Tlic  Age  of  the  Parents. — The  age  of  the  parents  at  the 
time  of  procreation  has  a  marked  influence  upon  the  health 
of  the  offspring.  The  parents  should  not  be  too  young.  It 
is  not  well  that  the  mother  should  be  less  than  twenty,  or 


Marriage  and  Heredity  8i 

the  father  less  than  twenty-four  years  of  age.  Many  of  the 
children  of  such  extremely  youthful  parents  are  weakly,  and 
have  poor  health.  On  the  other  hand,  the  parents  should 
not  be  very  old.  When  the  mother  is  over  forty  and  the 
father  over  fifty  years  of  age,  the  children  are  apt  to  be 
weakly;  also  they  are  apt  to  be  left  orphaned  at  a  com- 
paratively early  age.  It  is  also  undesirable  that  there  should 
be  a  great  difference  between  the  ages  of  the  parents.  Thus 
the  parents  should  be  young,  but  not  too  young.  The 
younger  they  are,  the  more  children  can  they  procreate — first 
of  all,  because  their  fertility  is  greater  in  youth,  and,  secondly, 
because  their  married  life  lasts  longer.  Qualitatively,  also, 
the  children  of  such  marriages  are  usually  healthier.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  age  indicated  is  the  normal  age  for 
marriage — the  age  at  which  the  great  majority  enter  upon 
marriage. 

The  Marriage  of  Near  Kin. — We  still  lack  precise  informa- 
tion to  enable  us  to  decide  whether  the  marriage  of  near  kin 
is  injurious  to  the  offspring  of  such  marriages.  According  to 
certain  (unoflScial)  statistics,  of  1000  marriages,  from  7  to  11 
are  those  of  persons  near  akin.  Naturally,  in  certain  remote 
and  inaccessible  districts,  the  proportion  of  such  marriages 
is  greater  than  this.  Two  very  different  views  have  been  put 
forward  by  scientific  authorities.  According  to  one  school, 
the  marriages  of  persons  near  akin  either  prove  completely 
sterile,  or  else  produce  offspring  defective  in  body  or  in  mind. 
According  to  the  other  school,  blood  relationship  has  per  se 
no  influence  upon  the  offspring  of  the  unions  of  nearly-related 
persons ;  where  the  parents  (in  such  marriages)  are  themselves 
free  from  defects  transmissible  by  inheritance,  there  is  no 
reason  to  anticipate  that  the  offspring  will  be  in  any  way 
defective,  unless  other  noxious  influences  (in  addition  to  the 
kinship  of  the  parents),  such  as  disease,  debility,  exhaustion 
from  previous  excesses,  &c.,  have  been  at  work.  But  if  such 
noxious  influences  have  affected  both  parents,  the  danger  of 
some  congenital  defect  appearing  in  the  children  is  very  great. 
We  certainly  see  many  cases  in  which  the  marriage  of  near 
kin  results  in  the  procreation  of  largo  and  thoroughly  healthy 
families;  but,  in  contrast  with  these,  we  also  see  many  cases 

F 


82  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

in  which  the  offspring  of  such  marriages  have  proved  non- 
viable or  degenerate  (especially,  bHnd,  deaf-mute,  idiotic,  in- 
sane, polydactylous,  or  affected  with  congenital  developmental 
defects). 

Marriages  between  persons  whose  qualities  are  extremely 
divergent,  and  marriages  between  persons  whose  qualities  are 
too  closely  similar,  are  alike  undesirable.  Neither  the  offspring 
of  marriages  between  those  belonging  to  different  races  nor  the 
offspring  of  marriages  between  those  too  closely  related  appear 
to  be  a  gain  for  the  race.  It  is  the  degree  of  divergence  or  of 
resemblance  which  here  plays  the  decisive  part. 

It  remains  a  subject  of  controversy  whether  the  institution 
of  exogamy  originated  from  the  fact  that  it  was  regarded  as 
desirable  to  refresh  the  blood  of  the  tribe  by  cross-fertilisation 
with  the  blood  of  another  tribe.  But  it  is  incontestably  estab- 
lished that  since  historic  times  began  there  has  existed  in  the 
human  race  a  natural  antipathy  to  incestuous  sexual  relations, 
and  more  especially  to  incestuous  marriages.  The  mental 
abnormahties  seen  in  the  offspring  of  incestuous  marriages  are 
to  a  large  extent  expHcable  from  the  fact  that  the  incestuous 
relationship  was  itself  the  outcome  of  mental  abnormality  in 
those  who  entered  upon  that  relationship. 

The  possibihty  of  the  hereditary  transmission  of  disease 
is  greater  in  the  case  of  the  marriage  of  near  kin  than  it  is  in 
ordinary  marriages.  When  both  parents  suffer  from  the  same 
transmissible  defect,  the  likelihood  that  that  defect  will  mani- 
fest itself  m  the  offsprmg  in  a  graver  form  is  greatly  increased. 
Thus,  in  the  case  of  the  offspring  of  nearly  related  persons, 
the  probability  of  the  appearance  of  certain  transmissible 
defects  is  considerable.  For  perfectly  healthy  parents  are 
rarities,  and  when  husband  and  wife  are  closely  related  the 
probability  that  both  will  suffer  from  the  same  transmissible 
defect  or  disorder  is  relatively  high. 

Disease  in  the  Parents  from  the  Legal  Standpoint. — In  relation 
to  marriage,  disease  has  a  twofold  significance:  on  the  one 
hand,  it  may  be  a  factor  leading  to  the  dissolution  of  the 
marriage  (owing  to  divorce,  nullity  of  marriage,  venereal  in- 
fection);  on  the  other  hand,  the  existence  of  disease  may 
prevent   marriage.     Very   naturally,   the    latter    factor    is  of 


Marriage  and  Heredity  ^'^^ 

preponderant  importance,  because  we  lay  the  chief  stress  upon 
prevention.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  so  little  attention  is 
paid  to  the  legal  significance  of  the  former  factor. 

Divorce. — In  cases  in  which  one  partner  to  a  marriage 
suffers  from  disease,  divorce  should  be  rendered  as  easy  as 
possible.  The  interests  of  the  children  are  often  put  forward 
as  reasons  against  this  course.  There  is  no  doubt  that  many 
married  couples  to-day  refrain  from  separation  or  divorce  solely 
because  they  regard  it  as  to  their  children's  interest  that  they 
should  continue  to  live  together.  But  it  is  precisely  on  the 
ground  of  the  children's  interest  that  such  marriages  ought  to 
be  dissolved,  and  that  the  child  or  children  should  remain 
with  the  healthy  parent.  The  opposite  course  would  only 
destroy  the  happiness  of  the  healthy  parent,  without  doing 
the  other  paront  any  good. 

Marriage-Prohibitions  in  Past  Times. — The  marriage-prohi- 
bitions of  former  times  may  be  classified  under  two  heads, 
ecclesiastical  and  civil.  The  leading  principle  of  the  canon 
law  of  marriage  is  the  limitation  to  monogamy  of  the  permis- 
sible forms  of  the  sexual  relationship.  More  strictly,  indeed, 
we  may  say,  the  limitation  to  ecclesiastical  marriage.  Mar- 
riage is  a  sacrament,  and  therefore  indissoluble ;  it  conforms 
to  ecclesiastical  law  only  when  certain  formalities  have  been 
observed,  and  when  no  ecclesiastical  prohibition  has  been 
infringed  (differences  in  religious  belief,  broken  vows,  &c.). 

Civil  marriage  prohibitions  date  chiefly  from  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries.  They  owe  their  origin  to 
the  fear  lest  parents  should  allow  their  offspring  to  become 
chargeable  to  the  community,  and  especially  to  the  poor-law 
authorities.  Such  marriage-prohibitions,  of  course,  concerned 
chiefly  the  lower  classes  of  the  population,  and  especially 
mendicants,  prostitutes,  persons  in  receipt  of  poor  relief,  persons 
of  disorderly  life,  offenders  against  the  criminal  law.  A  mar- 
riage concluded  in  defiance  of  such  prohibitions  involved  the 
deprivation  of  certain  legal  rights,  and  also  rendered  the 
offenders  liable  to  punishment. 

To-day,  in  the  sphere  of  marriage-law,  ecclesiastical  law  has 
largely  lost  significance,  and  continues  to  lose  what  little  it 
still  possesses,  so  that  its  marriage-prohibitions  are  coming  to 


84  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

possess  little  more  than  historical  interest.  The  civil  marriage 
prohibitions  were  repealed  in  the  nineteenth  century,  because 
they  were  found  to  have  no  other  effect  than  to  increase  the 
number  of  illegal  unions  and  the  births  of  illegitimate  children, 
and  because  they  merely  increased  the  burdens  upon  the 
poor-law.  Even  in  the  nineteenth  century,  however,  certain 
political  parties — the  Conservatives,  for  example — desire  that 
these  civil  prohibitions  should  be  reintroduced,  but  in  this 
form,  that  the  marriage  of  persons  actually  in  receipt  of  poor 
relief  should  be  forbidden,  or  that  persons  belonging  to  the 
lower  classes  should  be  allowed  to  marry  only  when  able  to 
demonstrate  the  possession  of  a  small  capital. 

Marriage-prohibitions  still  exist  to-day.  The  difference  is 
merely  this,  that  in  place  of  the  ecclesiastical  prohibitions  and 
the  civil  prohibitions  affecting  members  of  the  lower  classes, 
moral,  hygienic,  and  economic  prohibitions  and  hindrances  have 
come  into  being,  affecting  the  middle  classes.  The  State,  as  a 
rule,  insists  upon  absolute  celibacy  in  the  case  of  its  female 
employees.  Soldiers  and  officers  are  hemmed  in  by  rigid 
regulations,  by  which  marriage  is  to  a  large  extent  rendered 
impossible ;  in  the  case  of  the  proletariat,  the  liability  to 
compulsory  military  service  offers  the  greatest  obstacle  to 
early  marriage.  From  Catholic  priests,  ecclesiastical  prohibi- 
tions demand  absolute  celibacy.  As  the  result  of  these  various 
marriage-prohibitions,  many  persons  who  would  probably  have 
been  able  to  procreate  healthy  children  are  prevented  marrying. 
But  there  is  to-day  hardly  ahy  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the 
marriage  of  persons  whose  union  is  likely  to  lead  to  the  pro- 
creation of  defective  children.  At  most,  minors,  certified 
lunatics,  confirmed  drunkards,  wards  in  chancery,  and  near 
relatives  are  forbidden  to  marry. 

Froiposed  Reforms. — Increasing  attention  is,  however,  being 
paid  to  the  possible  legal  applications  of  the  doctrine  of  evolu- 
tion. Even  those  who  are  opposed  to  any  radical  reforms  see 
that  persons  suffering  from  communicable  venereal  disease 
must  be  unconditionally  forbidden,  on  pain  of  very  severe 
punishment,  not  merely  to  contract  marriage,  not  merely  to 
practise  sexual  intercourse,  but  to  perform  any  act,  of  what- 
ever kind,  by  which  they  could  communicate  infection.  The 
existing  state  of  the  law,  by  which,  notwithstanding  the  great 


Marriage  and  Heredity  85 

frequency  of  sucli  occurrences,  isolated  instances  only  of  the 
transmission  of  venereal  diseases  are  punished  (for  example, 
the  case  of  the  nurse  who  infects  the  child  entrusted  to  her 
care),  is  altogether  unsatisfactory ;  the  communication  of  any 
kind  of  venereal  infection,  in  any  possible  way,  should  be 
severely  punished. 

Those  who  recognise  the  need  for  improving  the  human 
species  by  purposive  selection  go  much  further  than  this. 
They  desire  that  every  person  with  regard  to  whom  there 
is  strong  reason  to  believe  that  his  or  her  offspring  would 
be  diseased,  and  every  man  or  woman  in  a  state  in  which 
he  or  she  would  transmit  infection  to  the  sexual  partner, 
should  be  stringently  forbidden  to  marry.  Such  persons  are : 
those  with  disease  of  the  central  nervous  system,  mental  dis- 
order, mental  weakness,  epilepsy,  hysteria,  idiocy;  those  with 
diminished  moral  responsibility ;  those  suffering  from  syphilis, 
gonorrhoea,  tuberculosis,  rachitis ;  cripples,  &c. 

Objections. — The  following  objections  are  raised  by  those 
who  are  adverse  to  the  institution  of  such  marriage  pro- 
hibitions as  these :  (a)  They  limit  personal  freedom,  and 
even  in  some  cases  actually  abolish  it.  (&)  By  means  of 
marriage-prohibitions,  it  is  possible  to  limit  the  number  of 
legitimate  children  born,  but  not  the  number  of  children  as 
a  whole,  since  persons  to  whom  legal  marriage  is  forbidden 
will  in  that  case  procreate  illegitimate  children.  But  it  is 
far  from  being  desirable  that  this  should  happen.  All  the 
defects  previously  enumerated  would  be  present  in  such 
children,  and  their  birth  would  be  unconditionally  harmful 
to  society.  It  is  statistically  proved  that  marriage-prohibi- 
tions lead  to  an  increase  in  the  number  of  illegitimate  births. 
In  Bavaria,  for  example,  down  to  the  year  1868,  the  local 
authorities  imposed  an  unconditional  veto  upon  the  marriage 
of  persons  supported  solely  by  wage- earning;  against  this  pro- 
hibition there  was  no  appeal  Avhatever.  In  the  year  1868  was 
passed  the  law  relating  to  marriage  and  domicile,  by  which 
most  of  the  former  marriage-prohibitions  were  repealed.  The 
sequel  of  this  was  that,  whereas  from  1854  to  1868  illegiti- 
mate births  constituted  22  per  cent,  of  all  births,  in  the  seven 
years  following  1868  the  percentage  of  illegitimate  births  fell 
to  12  6  per  cent,     (c)  It  is  better,  say  the  objectors,  that  a 


86  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

man  suffering  from  venereal  disease  should  marry,  for  in  that 
case  he  makes  only  one  woman  unhappy  and  procreates  a 
few  children  only.  But  if  he  is  forbidden  to  marry,  he  has 
intercourse  with  numerous  women,  especially  with  prosti- 
tutes, he  infects  many  women,  and  procreates  more  children. 
{d)  Marriage-prohibitions  do  not  prevent  unhappy  marriages 
only,  but  also  those  which  would  be  likely  to  prove  happy. 
Many  couples  enter  into  marriage  for  other  reasons  than 
desire  for  sexual  intercourse.  There  are  also  many  sick 
persons  upon  whom  marriage  exercises  a  curative  influence 
— curing,  or  at  least  alleviating,  the  disease  from  which  they 
suffer.  For  example,  many  alcoholics  become  abstemious  or 
temperate  as  a  result  of  marriage ;  many  weakly  and  delicate 
girls  become  strong  and  healthy  women  when  they  marry. 
Many  marriages  are  happy  although  husband  and  wife  do 
not  practise  sexual  intercourse ;  and  it  is  by  no  means  uncom- 
mon for  a  woman  to  marry  a  sick  man  simply  because  she 
pities  him,  and  wishes  to  act  as  his  sick-nurse,  (e)  Marriage- 
prohibitions  accentuate  class  contrasts.  (/)  Diseased  persons 
commonly  have  no  offspring,  {g)  Diseased  persons  to  whom, 
after  consideration  of  their  case,  marriage  is  permitted,  have  the 
responsibility  taken  out  of  their  hands,  and  consequently  tend 
to  lose  all  sense  of  responsibility.  (A)  Marriage- prohibitions 
interfere  with  natural  selection,  inasmuch  as  they  render  im- 
possible the  acquirement  of  immunity  to  disease  and  the  pro- 
cess of  regeneration.  {%)  It  would  be  a  logical  counterpart  to 
marriage-prohibitions  to  compel  healthy  persons  to  enter 
upon  marriage — a  course  that  is  obviously  impracticable. 

The,  Bight  View. — The  prohibitions  suggested  in  the  sec- 
tion on  "  Proposed  Reforms "  are  sound  in  principle.  The 
prevention  of  the  birth  of  such  children  as  are  born  in  the 
absence  of  effective  prohibitions  of  this  kind,  effects  an  enor- 
mous social  economy.  The  children  of  thoroughly  healthy 
parents,  who  have  married  from  love,  are  the  healthiest ;  such 
marriages  are,  therefore,  to  be  promoted.  But  it  does  not 
follow  that  all  other  marriages  than  these  should  be  pre- 
vented. This  would  go  too  far,  and  would,  moreover,  be 
utterly  impracticable.  Marriage-prohibitions  must  not  err 
by  excess,  and  too  energetic  intervention  in  these  matters 
is   undesirable.     For  such  a  course   of  action  would  render 


Marriage  and  Heredity  87 

it  impossible  for  very  raany  persons  to  marry;  and,  in  fact, 
no  one  with  any  disease,  mild  or  severe,  and  no  one  with  any 
kind  of  defect  of  body  or  mind,  could  enter  upon  marriage. 
All  that  is  practicable  is,  in  the  first  place,  to  prevent  the 
marriage  of  those  who  are  obviously  suffering  from  serious 
disease;  and,  in  the  second  place,  to  prevent  the  marriage 
of  persons  exhibiting  defects  of  bodily  development,  or  in 
whom  the  sexual  characters  are  inadequately  developed,  even 
though  such  persons  cannot  be  said  to  be  suffering  from  dis- 
ease {e.g.  women  with  weakly-formed  breasts,  with  poor  hips, 
with  a  badly-formed  pelvis,  &c.) 

Passing  now  to  consider  the  objections  in  detail,  {a)  is 
true.  But  the  mode  of  action  of  a  State  which  introduces 
such  marriage-prohibitions  differs  quantitatively  only,  not 
qualitatively,  from  the  mode  of  action  of  other  States  to-day. 
The  marriage-prohibitions  now  in  existence  certainly  limit 
personal  freedom ;  but  in  other  departments  of  the  activity 
of  the  modern  State  we  encounter  numerous  institutions  by 
which  individual  liberty  is  far  more  seriously  impaired.  Con- 
sider, for  instance,  compulsory  military  service:  the  modern 
State  insists  that  all  young  men  shall  undergo  a  medical 
examination,  and  that  those  found  to  be  physically  fit  shall 
devote  the  best  years  of  their  life  to  the  service  of  the  State. 
Besides,  when  we  are  considering  the  common  weal,  the  question 
of  individual  liberty  is  no  longer  decisive.  The  notion  that 
it  is  an  inalienable  right  of  every  human  being  to  found  a 
family  may  be  quietly  dismissed  as  a  piece  of  egregious  senti- 
mentality. (&)  By  punitive  measures,  and  by  the  diffusion  of 
enlightenment,  it  is  possible  to  prevent  the  classes  of  persons 
here  mentioned  from  entering  into  illegitimate  sexual  relation- 
ships. Women  will  not  allow  themselves  to  become  entangled 
with  men  to  whom,  for  the  reasons  here  considered,  marriage 
is  forbidden ;  first  of  all,  because  such  men  are  considered  to 
be  of  inferior  worth ;  in  the  second  place,  because,  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  an  intimacy  (liaisoii)  cannot  lead  to  marriage, 
the  intimacy  is  regarded  as  fruitless,  (c)  The  probability  of 
transmitting  venereal  infection  and  the  probability  of  pro- 
creating children  are  both  considerably  greater  in  cases  of 
long-enduring  intimacy  than  where  there  are  numerous,  brief, 
frequently-changed  sexual  relationships,     (d)  It  is  altogether 


88  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

exceptional  for  marriage  to  exercise  a  curative  influence  upon 
the  progress  of  a  disease,  and  this  probability  is  one  which 
can  never  be  counted  upon.  Once  the  marriage  is  contracted, 
sexual  intercourse  and  the  procreation  of  children  cannot  be 
prevented.  (/)  As  regards  persons  suffering  from  tuberculosis 
and  alcoholism,  the  reverse  of  what  was  stated  in  objection  (/) 
is  definitely  established.  {K)  The  data  available  as  to  the 
immunising  influence  of  inherited  diseases  against  the  same 
diseases  accidentally  acquired  {e.g.  of  congenital  syphilis  against 
acquired  syphilis)  are  extremely  debatable.  They  seem,  indeed, 
to  show  provisionally  that  such  an  immunising  eff'ect  is  non- 
existent. The  question  of  regeneration  is  still  obscure,  and 
requires  thorough  investigation.  It  is  certainly  possible  that 
in  some  cases  intermarriage  between  the  diseased  and  the 
healthy  may  lead,  not  to  the  deterioration,  but  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  race,  owing  to  the  fact  that  thereby  favourable 
elements  are  introduced  into  the  family.  The  principal  argu- 
ment against  this  idea  of  regeneration  is  that,  from  marriages 
in  which  both  parties  are  healthy,  healthier  offspring  un- 
questionably result,  than  from  marriages  in  which  one  or 
both  parties  are  diseased.  The  resulting  postulate  is,  that 
the  healthy  should  marry  the  healthy. 

Hoio  to  Effect  Reforms. — No  general  rules  can  be  formulated 
regarding  the  marriage  of  persons  suffering  from  disease.  The 
majority  of  diseases  are  of  such  a  nature  that  their  existence 
can  be  established  only  by  means  of  direct  medical  examination. 
In  most  cases,  medical  examination  will  not  justify  the  asser- 
tion that  the  particular  person  must  be  altogether  forbidden 
to  marry,  but  only  that  this  particular  person  ought  not  to 
marry  some  other  specifically  indicated  individual ;  should  the 
question  arise  regarding  another  proposed  marriage  (that  is 
to  say,  with  a  different  individual),  then  a  fresh  medical 
examination  will  be  desirable.  For  example,  we  cannot  lay  it 
down  as  a  general  rule  that  the  marriage  of  persons  suffering 
from  tuberculosis  must  be  unconditionally  forbidden;  all  we 
are  able  to  say  is,  that  when  anyone  suffering  from  tuberculosis 
desires  to  marry,  that  person  ought  first  to  submit  to  a  thorough 
medical  examination.  It  is  therefore  necessary  that  prior  to 
marriage  there  should  be  a  medical  examination  made  by  one 
of  a  number  of  doctors  officially  appointed  for  this  purpose. 


Marriage  and  Heredity  89 

As  a  result  of  their  examination,  these  officials  will  give  an 
opinion,  whether  the  marriage  of"  the  person  they  have  ex- 
amined with  some  other  person  specifically  named  is  or  is  not 
desirable  in  the  interest  of  the  common  weal. 

There  is  yet  another  way  in  which  this  idea  might  be 
carried  out.  (a)  Everyone  wishing  to  marry  should  provide, 
in  addition  to  the  various  documents  which  are  now  requisite 
to  the  official  sanction  of  marriage,  a  medical  certificate  to 
the  effect  that  he  is  free  from  any  disease  which  should  prevent 
his  marriage  with  the  other  party  named  in  the  certificate. 
Many,  indeed,  wish  that,  in  addition  to  this  certificate,  another 
should  be  provided,  to  the  effect  that  of  the  two  parties  about 
to  enter  into  marriage,  the  woman  will  be  presumably  com- 
petent to  suckle  her  child,  to  bring  it  up,  and  to  educate 
it ;  the  man,  that  he  will  presumably  be  competent  to  under- 
take the  two  duties  last  named.  (&)  Before  the  marriage  is 
solemnised,  the  physicians  of  both  parties  should  hold  a  con- 
sultation, and  decide  jointly  whether  the  marriage  is  permissible, 
(c)  Everyone  who  enters  into  marriage  should  be  under 
statutory  obligation  to  insure  his  life,  and  this  also  involves 
a  complete  medical  examination,  id)  Many  consider  that 
the  following  method  of  procedure  would  suffice.  Before 
the  marriage  is  solemnised,  both  parties  should  be  medically 
examined,  and  the  result  of  the  medical  examination  of  each 
should  be  communicated  to  the  other.  If  they  then  wish  to 
proceed  with  the  marriage,  no  further  obstacles  should  be 
interposed. 

The  Tendency  of  Evolution. — The  importance  of  marriage- 
prohibitions  on  hygienic  grounds  is  continually  increasing. 
Recent  legislation  in  many  States  of  the  American  Union 
furnish  us  with  the  best  examples  of  this  evolutionary  ten- 
dency. In  the  social  life  of  the  future,  marriage-prohibitions 
on  hygienic  grounds  will  play  a  very  important  part.  The 
detailed  treatment  of  this  question  at  any  particular  time 
and  in  any  particular  country  will  of  course  depend  upon 
the  acquirements  of  medical  science.  It  is  probable  that  the 
general  principles  will  be  statutorily  determined,  and  that 
medical  examination  will  ultimately  be  made  compulsory  in 
the  case  of  everyone  contemplating  marriage. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE   PROTECTION   OF   ILLEGITIMATE  CHILDREN 

The  Legal  Position  of  the  Illegitimate  Child. — The  legal 
position  of  the  illegitimate  child  is  regulated  by  civil  law  only 
in  respect  of  certain  relationships ;  and  the  brief  and  restricted 
enactments  on  this  subject  are  in  sharp  contrast  with  the 
great  importance  of  the  matter.  Even  in  those  countries 
in  which  the  position  of  illegitimate  children  is  relatively 
favourable,  it  is  only  in  relation  to  the  mother  and  to  the 
blood-relatives  of  the  mother  that  the  legal  position  of  the 
illegitimate  child  corresponds  with  that  of  the  legitimate  child ; 
no  further  duty  is  imposed  upon  the  father  of  any  illegiti- 
mate child  than  to  provide  for  the  child  until  it  is  sixteen 
years  of  age  an  allowance  for  maintenance  corresponding 
to  the  social  position  of  the  mother.  Even  in  these  countries 
the  proof  of  paternity  is  apt  to  be  a  matter  of  considerable 
difficulty.  The  father  of  a  natural  child  can  raise  various 
objections ;  for  instance,  he  may  allege  loose  conduct  on 
the  part  of  the  mother  {exceptio  phirium  concumhentium),  and 
the  proof  of  this  will  discharge  him  of  his  duty  of  main- 
tenance. 

In  civil  law  there  are  various  institutions  by  which  the 
position  of  the  illegitimate  child  may  be  improved;  for 
example,  recognition,  adoption  of  the  child,  and,  above  all, 
legitimisation.  But  of  course  these  will  redound  to  the 
advantage  of  those  children  only  towards  whom  the  natural 
father  has  no  feeling  of  hostility.  By  legitimisation,  the 
illegitimate  child  acquires  the  position  of  the  legitimate 
child.  There  are  two  chief  methods  of  legitimisation,  viz., 
legitimatio  per  subsequens  matrimonium,  and  legitimatio  per 
rescriptum  principis.  About  25  to  30  per  cent,  of  all  ille- 
gitimate  children    are    legitimised.     Of   children    legitimised 


The  Protection  of  I  legitimate  Children  91 

during  the  first  year  of  life,  tlie  process  is  effected  in  the 
great  majority  during  the  second  and  third  months  after 
birth.  The  older  the  child,  the  less  likelihood  is  there  of 
its  legitimisation ;  and  legitimisation  is  less  probable  in 
towns  than  in  the  country. 

Beasons  for  these  Legal  Disabilities. — The  defenders  of  the 
existing  legal  order,  when  asked  why  it  is  that  the  civil  law 
deals  so  harshly  with  the  illegitimate  child,  are  accustomed 
to  answer  as  follows.  Marriage  is  the  foundation  of  society; 
if  the  legal  position  of  the  illegitimate  child  were  as  good  as 
that  of  the  legitimate  child,  this  foundation  would  be  shattered. 
Those  who  enter  into  illegitimate  sexual  relationships,  and 
even  the  issue  of  such  relationships,  must  incur  serious  legal 
disabilities;  for  otherwise  the  principal  motive  to  marriage 
would  be  removed,  and  people  would  light-heartedly  enter 
into  illegitimate  sexual  unions.  Ordinarily,  it  is  only  upon 
the  basis  of  permanent  marriage  that  a  groundwork  can  be 
erected  providing  for  those  moral  principles  which  are  the 
indispensable  preconditions  of  the  legal  rights  and  duties  of 
family  life ;  only  in  permanent  marriage,  and  the  family 
life  which  is  the  outcome  of  permanent  marriage,  do  we 
obtain  adequate  guarantees  for  the  fulfilment  of  these  duties 
and  for  the  proper  exercise  of  these  rights.  It  is  only  in 
an  insignificant  minority  of  instances  that  the  natural  associa- 
tion between  an  illegitimate  child  and  its  father  leads  to  the 
formation  of  a  more  intimate  bond  between  the  two.  In 
most  cases,  the  father  is  indifferent  and  even  hostile  to  his 
illegitimate  child.  He  regards  it  as  a  burden,  and  has  no 
interest  in  its  well-being,  or  in  its  bodily  and  mental  develop- 
ment. Only  in  the  rarest  cases  does  an  illegitimate  child 
share  directly  in  the  family  life  and  in  the  property  of  the 
father ;  and  if  the  father  does  take  over  the  care  for  and 
upbringing  of  the  child,  he  often  does  this  solely  in  his  own 
financial  interest,  in  order  subsequently  to  hand  over  the  care 
of  the  child  to  the  person  who  will  undertake  this  at  the 
cheapest  rate.  In  such  cases  the  moral  and  circumstantial 
prerequisites  to  the  foundation  of  true  family  relationships 
are  utterly  lacking ;  and  this  is  true  above  all  of  those  cases 
in  which  the  fatherhood  of  the  child  is  not  voluntarily  acknow- 


92  Elements  of  CJiild-ProtedioJi 

ledged,  but  is  admitted  as  the  sequel  of  a  successful  bastardy 
suit.  It  has  also  to  be  remembered  that  the  proof  of  the 
fatherhood  of  an  illegitimate  child,  though  it  cannot  be  re- 
garded as  impossible,  is  nevertheless  beset  by  numerous  and 
considerable  practical  difficulties ;  and,  in  addition,  that  the 
adoption  of  legal  measures  to  enable  the  paternity  of  an 
illegitimate  child  to  be  established  with  comparative  ease 
would  involve  very  grave  social  dangers,  if  the  acceptance  of 
extensive  family  responsibilities  were  to  be  made  consequent 
upon  such  proof  of  paternity.  The  laws  of  inheritance  pro- 
tect the  institution  of  private  property  and  the  institution 
of  legal  marriage ;  for  the  integrity  of  both  of  these  institu- 
tions would  be  threatened  if  the  illegitimate  child  were 
endowed  with  the  right  to  inherit  its  father's  property. 

Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  Illegitimate  Birth. — Three 
different  views  prevail  regarding  the  relative  advantages  and 
disadvantages  of  illegitimate  births,  (1)  Illegitimate  children 
come  into  the  world  favourably  equipped,  for  their  parents  are 
young,  and  their  union  depends  not  upon  interest,  but  upon 
love.  (2)  Illegitimate  children  are  hereditarily  defective,  as 
is  clearly  manifest  in  all  relationships.  Private  statistical 
data  show  that  in  respect  of  body-weight  and  body-length  the 
illegitimate  new-born,  boys  as  well  as  girls,  compare  unfavour- 
ably with  the  legitimate.  Many  illegitimate  children  exhibit  a 
disposition  to  various  mental  disorders  (degenerative  neuroses 
and  psychoses).  Since  in  most  cases  the  father  is  unknown, 
and  his  qualities  therefore  elude  observation,  there  would 
appear  to  be  some  ground  for  the  assumption  that  the 
hereditary  tainting  of  illegitimate  children  is  even  greater  than 
it  is  actually  proved  to  be.  (3)  Illegitimate  children  come 
into  the  world  with  the  same  equipment  as  legitimate  children. 

The  first  of  these  views  is  erroneous,  if  only  for  the  reason 
that  in  men  often  nothing  more  than  sensuality,  and  in 
women  often  nothing  more  than  self-interest,  leads  to  the 
formation  of  an  irregular  sexual  intimacy.  But  neither  the 
second  view  nor  the  third  can  be  accepted  without  reserve. 
In  interpreting  the  statistical  data  relating  to  illegitimacy, 
many  circumstances  have  to  be  considered.  Attention  must 
always  be  paid  to  the  question,  which  were  the  intimacies  in 


The  Protection  of  Illegitimate  Children  93 

which  the  conditions  were  similar  to  those  of  married  life,  and 
to  the  question  as  to  the  extent  to  which  the  peculiarities 
apparent'  in  the  illegitimate  are  dependent  solely  upon  the 
legal  disabilities  of  their  status.  The  material  conditions  in 
which  illegitimate  children  are  placed  must  be  compared  with 
those  of  legitimate  children  belonging  to  similar  social  classes. 
It  would  be  altogether  fallacious  to  compare  the  condition  of 
illegitimate  children  with  the  average  condition  of  legitimate 
children,  instead  of  with  the  average  condition  of  children  of 
the  proletariat.  If  these  considerations  receive  due  attention, 
it  will  become  apparent  that  illegitimacy  ipcr  se  is  not  a 
decisive  factor,  but  merely  renders  more  apparent  the  dis- 
advantages attendant  on  being  brought  up  under  the  con- 
ditions inevitable  for  the  children  of  the  proletariat. 

Abortio7i,  Premature  Birth,  Still- Birth. — The  general  causes 
of  abortion,  premature  birth,  and  still-birth  operate  even  more 
frequently  in  cases  of  illegitimate  than  in  cases  of  legitimate 
birth.  The  chief  causes  are  the  following :  (a)  Keeping  at 
work  up  to  the  time  of  childbirth,  (h)  Criminal  abortion, 
(c)  Syphilitic  infection,  which,  as  is  well  known,  is  intimately 
associated  with  extra  -  conjugal  sexual  intercourse.  With 
regard  to  {a),  unmarried  mothers,  who  are  for  the  most  part 
working-class  women,  servant-maids,  laundresses,  sempstresses, 
&c.,  are  commonly  compelled  to  remain  at  work  until  preg- 
nancy is  far  advanced.  With  regard  to  (6),  the  fear  of 
disgrace  and  the  prospect  of  poverty  impel  many  unmarried 
women  about  to  become  mothers  to  attempt  to  procure 
abortion.  These  factors  naturally  affect  town-dwellers  to  a 
greater  extent  than  they  affect  persons  living  in  the  country. 

In  Europe,  miscarriages  and  still-births  occur  in  cases  of 
illegitimate  births  about  25  per  cent,  more  frequently  than  in 
cases  of  legitimate  births.  These  statistical  data  must,  how- 
ever, be  corrected  by  the  consideration  of  the  following  facts : 
{a)  Many  live-born  illegitimate  children  are  returned  as  still- 
born, in  order  to  conceal  the  manipulations  which  were 
effected  during  or  immediately  after  birth.  On  the  other 
hand,  many  still-born  children  arc  returned  as  live-born,  for 
the  reason  that  many  material  interests  may  render  such  a 
misreport  desirable.       (6)  The    larger  moiety  of  illegitimate 


94  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

births  are  children  born  to  primiparae.  For  this  reason, 
the  percentage  of  still-births  is  greater  than  in  the  case  of 
all  legitimate  births  taken  together — although  the  effect  of 
the  primiparous  state  of  the  mother  is  to  some  extent 
counteracted  by  the  fact  that  the  mother  of  an  illegitimate 
child  is  commonly  quite  young. 

Childbirih  in  Unmarried  Mothers. — When  a  married  woman 
is  about  to  become  a  mother,  she  makes  early  preparation  of 
all  that  will  be  required  during  childbirth  and  the  lying-in 
period.  A  large  proportion  of  unmarried  mothers,  on  the 
other  hand,  spend  their  last  penny  before  the  termination 
of  pregnancy,  and  are  altogether  destitute  when  the  time 
of  their  delivery  arrives.  A  sense  of  shame  prevents  many 
pregnant  women  from  entering  a  lying-in  hospital,  although 
to  do  this  would  provide  them  with  free  medical  aid.  Most 
women  also  have  a  dread  of  the  gynecological  clinique,  because 
they  think  they  will  be  made  use  of  there  for  the  instruction 
of  students.  To  unmarried  mothers,  many  charitable  institu- 
tions close  their  doors.  {a)  But  notwithstanding  this,  the 
majority  of  unmarried  mothers  are  delivered  at  public  lying- 
in  hospitals,  gynecological  cliniques,  and  obstetric  wards  of 
general  hospitals.  (6)  A  small  proportion  are  delivered  in 
private  lying-in  institutions  (and  these  naturally  of  a  bad 
class,  since  such  women  lack  money  to  pay  the  fees  de- 
manded by  the  better-class  institutions),  (c)  A  third  moiety 
are  delivered  amid  conditions  the  most  unfavourable  that  can 
possibly  be  imagined.  All  these  circumstances  combine  to 
exercise  a  most  unfavourable  influence  upon  the  morbidity 
and  the  mortality  of  illegitimate  new-born  infants. 

Causes  of  the  Great  Mortality  of  Illegitimate  Children. — Owing 
to  causes  which  come  into  operation  immediately  or  shortly  after 
birth  (syphilis,  marasmus,  congenital  debility,  »S:c.),  a  much 
larger  percentage  of  illegitimate  children  succumb  than  of 
legitimate  children.  The  mother  returns  to  work  almost 
immediately  after  the  birth  of  her  child  ;  usually  her  work 
takes  her  away  from  home,  but  if  otherwise,  it  is  almost 
certain  to  be  work  which  will  prevent  her  giving  proper  care 
to  her  child.  Hence  the  great  majority  of  unmarried  mothers 
are  forced  to  separate  from  their  children  almost  immediately 


The  Protection  of  Illegitimate  Chitdren  95 

after  the  birth  of  the  latter.  In  many  cases,  the  mother  does 
not  even  commit  her  child  to  a  fomidling  hospital,  or  entrust 
it  to  a  foster  mother,  but  she  kills  it  or  exposes  it  immediately 
after  birth.  It  is  well  known  that  infanticide  and  the  expos- 
ing of  infants  are  almost  exclusively  the  work  of  unmarried 
mothers ;  and  in  a  considerable  proportion  of  cases,  criminal 
abortion  is  the  outcome  of  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  an 
unmarried  woman  to  conceal  the  fact  that  she  has  been 
impregnated, 

Baby-farming  is  in  actual  practice  nothing  but  a  cruel 
method  of  infanticide — a  method  whose  causation  is  apparent 
on  brief  consideration.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  great 
majority  of  unmarried  mothers  belong  to  a  social  stratum  in 
which  the  average  income  is  extremely  low.  A  maid-servant 
receives  at  best  [in  Germany  and  Austria]  an  annual  wage  of 
from  £10  to  £15,  a  female  factory-hand  from  £25  to  £30. 
The  maintenance  of  an  infant,  if  the  elementary  principles 
of  the  hygiene  of  childhood  are  to  be  observed,  and  if  the 
foster-parents  are  to  make  any  profit  at  all,  costs  at  the  very 
least  £15  a  year.  The  mere  nutriment  of  a  child  during  the 
first  year  of  life  costs  4d.  per  day,  or  a  little  more  than  £6  per 
annum.  When  allowance  is  made  for  house-room,  clothing, 
and  necessary  incidental  expenses,  we  reach  a  minimal  total 
of  £10  to  £11.  How  is  it  possible  for  the  average  unmarried 
mother  to  find  the  sum  asked  by  the  foster-parents  ?  Those 
who,  as  foster-parents,  assume  the  charge  of  an  illegitimate 
child,  cannot  reckon  on  the  child's  remaining  permanently  in 
their  care,  and  ultimately  becoming  a  useful  member  of  the 
family.  The  mother's  payments  are  scanty  and  irregular. 
Her  intentions  may  be  good  at  the  outset,  and  perhaps  she 
has  not  yet  completely  exhausted  her  savings.  At  first  too, 
perhaps,  the  father  gives,  or  at  least  promises,  a  little  pecuniary 
aid.  But  when  the  child  is  out  of  sight,  his  willingness  to 
make  sacrifices  on  its  behalf  soon  wanes.  Nothing  more  is 
heard  of  the  father.  The  mother  is  perhaps  out  of  work  for 
a  time,  and  a  fresh  pregnancy  may  ensue.  The  foster-parents 
know  very  well  that  if  this  particular  child  dies,  they  will 
readily  find  another  to  be  entrusted  to  their  care.  Sometimes 
the  mother's  own  interest  in  the  life  of  her  child  fades.     How, 


96  Eleme7its  of  Child- Protection 

indeed,  can  she  continue  to  love  it,  when  it  is  kept  at  a 
distance  from  her,  and  when  to  provide  the  money  needed 
for  its  maintenance  demands  the  greatest  possible  sacrifices  ? 
Why  should  she  not  desire  the  child's  death,  when  this  would 
not  merely  remove  a  difficulty  from  her  own  path,  but  might 
well  be  regarded  as  the  best  possible  thing  for  the  child  itself, 
ailing  and  in  lack  of  proper  and  loving  care  ?  Thus  there 
is  often  a  tacit  understanding  between  the  mother  and  the 
foster-mother,  that  the  child's  life  shall  be  as  short  as  possible. 
Unfortunately  in  such  cases  it  is  rarely  possible  to  punish  the 
foster-parents,  since  in  the  case  of  infants  it  is  so  difficult  to 
determine  precisely  where  ignorance,  stupidity,  and  poverty 
end  and  infanticide  by  deliberate  neglect  begins.  The  law 
rightly  prescribes  severe  penalties  for  infanticide ;  but  we  may 
well  ask  whether  it  is  worse  for  a  mother  to  suffocate  her  child 
immediately  after  its  birth,  or,  by  the  lack  of  proper  care,  to 
inflict  upon  the  infant  a  more  tedious  but  no  less  certain  doom. 
We  often  hear  it  asserted  that  such  murderous  baby-farming 
is  in  Europe  a  thing  of  the  past.  My  own  opinion  is  that 
France  is  the  only  European  country  of  which  this  assertion 
may  possibly  be  true. 

The  food  and  other  necessaries  supplied  to  illegitimate 
children  are  commonly  inadequate.  The  more  important 
contributory  causes  of  the  enormous  mortality  of  illegitimate 
children  (the  primiparous  condition  of  the  mother,  syphilis, 
and  intra-uterine  influences)  have  previously  been  mentioned. 
It  is  owing  to  the  co-operation  of  these  various  unfavourable 
factors  that  the  death-rate  of  illegitimate  is  so  much  higher 
than  that  of  legitimate  children — the  ratio  between  the  two 
death-rates  in  the  civilised  countries  of  Europe  during  the 
twentieth  century  being,  according  to  my  calculations,  as  1"4  :1. 
Only  in  those  countries  in  which  the  mortality  among  legiti- 
mate infants  or  the  general  infant  mortality  is  higher,  does  a 
comparison  between  the  infantile  death-rates  of  the  legitimate 
and  the  illegitimate,  respectively,  furnish  a  result  which  appears 
less  unfavourable  to  the  lattter.  What  this  high  death-rate 
of  illegitimate  children  really  means  becomes  apparent  when 
we  recall  the  fact  that  every  year  in  Europe  no  fewer  than 
600,000  illegitimate  children  are  born.     In  reality  the  infantile 


The  Protection  of  Illegitimate  Children  97 

death-rate  among  the  illegitimate  is  even  greater  than  these 
figures  would  appear  to  show ;  for  a  proportion  of  those  born  as 
illegitimate  are  subsequently  legitimised,  and,  in  consequence 
of  this,  many  infants  which  at  birth  were  included  among  the 
illegitimate,  appear  in  the  mortality  lists  among  the  legitimate. 
In  the  country,  the  infantile  death-rate  is  greater  than  in  the 
towns.  The  differences  in  the  death-rates  of  illegitimate  and 
of  legitimate  children,  respectively,  are  greatest  in  the  first 
month  of  life,  and  diminish  month  by  month  as  age  advances. 
In  other  words,  the  expectation  of  life  of  an  illegitimate  infant 
increases  month  by  month  after  birth.  After  the  first  year 
of  life,  the  ratio  between  the  death-rates  of  illegitimate  and 
legitimate  children  is  less  unfavourable  to  the  former  than  in 
infants  under  one  year  of  age. 

Criminality  in  the  Blegitimate. — Private  and  official  statistical 
data  combine  to  prove  that  in  illegitimate  children  criminality 
is  considerably  more  common  than  it  is  in  the  legitimate.  In 
individual  countries,  and  in  respect  of  different  criminal  offences, 
the  relationships  are  very  variable ;  but  there  is  not  a  single 
civilised  country  in  which  we  fail  to  find  that  the  average 
criminality-rate  of  illegitimate  children  is  considerably  higher 
than  the  average  criminality-rate  of  the  legitimate.  We  see 
this  difference  maintained,  alike  in  respect  of  the  number  of 
punishable  offences  committed  on  the  average  by  each  con- 
victed person,  in  respect  of  particular  offences  in  the  case 
of  those  who  experience  only  one  conviction,  and  finally  in 
respect  of  the  percentage  of  convicted  offenders  among  the 
two  respective  classes.  Not  a  single  punishable  offence  can 
be  mentioned,  in  respect  of  which  we  fail  to  find  that  the 
percentage  of  illegitimates  convicted  of  that  offence  is  larger 
than  the  percentage  of  legitimates  so  convicted.  Moreover, 
if  we  compare  recidivists  and  major  offenders  with  other 
criminals,  Ave  find  that  the  unfavourable  influence  of  illegiti- 
macy is  especially  marked  in  the  case  of  the  former.  The 
conclusions  drawn  from  the  criminal  statistics  are  confirmed 
by  those  obtained  from  reformatories  and  similar  institutions ; 
everywhere  wc  find  a  higher  criminality-rate  among  the 
illegitimate. 

One  circumstance,  however,  which  is  commonly  overlooked,. 

G 


98  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

has  to  be  taken  into  account.  Among  those  convicted  of 
criminal  oft'ences,  a  certain  percentage  are  persons  of  illegiti- 
mate birth  (a);  a  certain  percentage  of  all  births  are  those 
of  illegitimates  (5) ;  a  certain  percentage  of  persons  who  have 
attained  the  age  at  which  they  become  legally  liable  to 
punishment  for  their  actions  are  persons  of  illegitimate  birth  (c). 
It  is  not  the  ratio  between  the  numbers  in  class  («)  and 
the  numbers  in  class  (&)  that  we  have  to  consider,  but  the 
ratio  between  the  numbers  in  class  (a)  and  the  numbers  in 
class  (c).  For  the  death-rate  among  illegitimate  children 
is  much  higher  than  the  death-rate  of  the  legitimate ;  and  the 
number  of  the  illegitimate  diminishes  through  legitimisation. 
Thus  a  much  smaller  proportion  of  young  persons  and  of 
adults  consists  of  persons  of  illegitimate  birth  than  in  the 
case  of  the  new-born.  The  proper  method  of  comparison 
would  be  to  ascertain  whether  the  percentage  of  illegitimate 
children  at  a  certain  age  convicted  of  criminal  offences  or 
undergoing  education  in  a  reformatory  is  greater  than  the 
percentage  of  legitimate  children  of  like  age  found  to  be 
undergoing  the  same  punishment  or  the  same  education. 

All  the  causes  of  crime — imperfect  education,  poverty, 
hereditary  taint — are  present  to  a  greater  extent  in  the 
illegitimate  than  in  the  legitimate.  How  can  we  expect  that 
an  illegitimate  child  will  be  properly  brought  up  when 
the  father  commonly  accepts  no  responsibility  for  the  matter, 
and  the  mother  is  usually  forced  to  commit  her  child  to  the 
care  of  a  baby-farmer  or  to  send  it  to  a  foundling  hospital  ? 
By  the  contemptuous  attitude  of  the  general  public  towards 
him,  and  by  his  inferior  legal,  social,  and  economic  position, 
the  person  of  illegitimate  birth  is,  as  it  were,  forced  to  seek 
revenge  from  society  for  the  wrongs  which,  in  his  opinion, 
society  has  inflicted  upon  him.  Medical  statistics  establish 
beyond  dispute  the  fact  that  among  illegitimate  children 
the  proportion  of  feeble-minded  is  larger  than  among  the 
legitimate. 

Illegitimacy  and  Prostihition. — I  have  not  been  able  to 
obtain  trustworthy  statistical  data  as  to  what  percentage 
of  prostitutes  are  persons  of  illegitimate  birth,  but  it  is 
generally  supposed  that  the  proportion  is  as  high  as  30  per 


The  Protection  of  Illegitimate  Children  99 

cent.  A  very  brief  examination  of  the  matter  shows  that 
among  prostitutes  there  is  a  higher  percentage  of  illegitimates 
than  among  the  general  population.  The  reason  for  this 
state  of  affairs  is  doubtless  the  inferior  legal  position  of 
illegitimate  children  under  the  conditions  of  our  time.  Illegiti- 
mate girls  are  not  properly  brought  up ;  they  are  despised  by 
the  world  even  if  their  conduct  is  irreproachable,  and  thus 
one  of  the  most  potent  reasons  for  remaming  respectable — 
the  fear  of  the  loss  of  good  repute — is  lacking  in  their  case. 
A  woman  who  receives  no  help,  or  inadequate  help,  from  the 
father  of  her  illegitimate  child,  is  very  apt  to  become  a 
prostitute. 

Occuj}ation  in  Belationsliip  to  Illegitimacy. — The  illegitimate 
originate  in  the  ranks  of  the  proletariat,  and  remain  in  those 
ranks.  The  statistics  of  the  subject  show  that  about  90 
per  cent,  of  adult  persons  of  illegitimate  birth  are  manual 
workers,  and  that  not  more  than  a  fourth  of  these  are  skilled 
artisans.  Statistics  prove  also  that  about  10  per  cent,  more 
of  legitimate  males  are  able  to  qualify  by  examination  for 
a  reduction  of  the  term  of  military  service  to  one  year,  than 
in  the  case  of  illegitimate  males. 

The  Different  Classes  of  the  Illegitimate. — Those  who  wish  to 
understand  the  position  of  illegitimate  children  must  consider 
the  different  classes  of  the  illegitimate.  («)  There  are  many 
differences  in  these  respects  in  various  countries.  For  example, 
in  certain  countries  the  children  born  to  a  betrothed  pair 
have  a  better  legal  position  than  other  illegitimate  children. 
In  some  countries,  again,  the  legal  position  of  children  born 
of  an  adulterous  or  of  an  incestuous  union  is  worse  than  that 
of  other  illegitimate  children. 

The  social  position  of  the  parents,  and  the  existence  or 
non-existence  of  differences  in  social  rank  between  father  and 
mother,  are  circumstances  which  may  exercise  a  decisive 
influence  upon  the  position  of  an  illegitimate  child.  It  might 
almost  be  maintained  that  the  higher  the  social  position 
of  the  unmarried  mother,  the  worse  will  be  the  position  of 
her  child.  For  the  higher  the  social  position,  the  more 
sinful  is  sexual  indulgence  considered  on  the  part  of  a  woman 
except  under  the  forms  of  marriage;  the  unmarried  mother, 


lOO  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

when  her  social  position  has  been  a  good  one,  is  apt  to  be 
driven  from  her  family,  boycotted  by  society,  and  abandoned 
by    her  seducer.     The  greater   the  difference  in  social  rank 
between    the  two  parents,  the  worse  will  be  the  position  of 
the  child ;  when  the  father's  position  is  much  better  than  the 
mother's,  he  usually  refuses  to  acknowledge  the  child  at  all. 
(c)  The  assumption  that  those  women  who  marry  after  bearing 
an  illegitimate  child,  marry  in  most  cases  the  father  of  their 
child,  is  erroneous.     Erroneous  also  is  the  assumption   that 
the   position   of  an   illegitimate   child   with   a  step-father   is 
less   favourable   than   the  position   of   the   illegitimate  child 
which  has  been  legitimised  through  the  subsequent  marriage 
of   its   true   parents.     As   regards   Germany,  we   learn    from 
private  statistical  data,  on  the  one  hand,  that  nearly  50  per 
cent,    of   the    women    who   marry   after  giving  birth   to    an 
illegitimate  child,  marry  another  man  than  the  father  of  that 
child ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  position  of  illegitimate 
children  who  thus  acquire  a  step-father  is  about  as  good  as 
that  of  legitimate  children  in  similar  classes  of  society ;  and 
their  position  is   certainly   much  better   than  that  of  those 
illegitimate  children  whose  mothers  remain  unmarried.     We 
should   be  led  to  expect  this  from  the  fact   that   the   step- 
father in  such  cases  marries  the  woman  because  he  loves  her, 
and  does  not  regard  the  child  as  a  serious  objection;  moreover, 
the  records  show  that  such  marriages  are  commonly  effected 
when  illegitimate  children  are  still  quite  young,  so  that  from 
its  early  youth  upwards  the  child  is  a  member  of  the  family 
circle.     It  seems  almost  incredible  that  it  should  be  better 
for  an  illegitimate  child  for  its  mother  to  die  than  for  her 
to    remain    alive,   but    unmarried ;    and    yet    this    may  very 
well  be  the  case,   for  the   upbringing   the  illegitimate  child 
receives  from  its  own  mother  is  apt  to  be  most  unsatisfactory ; 
but  should  the  mother  die,  the  child  will  usually  be  cared 
for  by  the  poor-law  authorities. 

Illegitimacy  and  Child-Protection. — The  mortality  and  the 
criminality  of  illegitimate  children  are  important  elements 
in  general  mortality  and  general  criminality ;  they  are  closely 
dependent  upon  the  legal  position  of  illegitimate  children, 
and    one    of    the    principal    aims    of   child- protection    is    to 


The  Protection  of  Illegitimate  Children        loi 

diminish  criminality  and  mortality.  For  these  reasons,  the 
legal  position  of  illegitimate  children  exercises  a  decisive 
influence  "in  determining  the  methods  and  the  intensity  of 
child-protection.  The  history  of  illegitimate  children  would, 
as  a  rule,  be  even  more  tragic  than  it  is,  if  the  community 
at  large  and  the  State  intervened  only  in  order  to  counter- 
act the  disadvantages  resulting  from  the  inferior  legal  posi- 
tion of  illegitimate  children,  and  if  no  attempt  were  made 
to  undertake  the  work  of  child-protection  from  the  point  of 
view  of  criminal  law  or  from  that  of  local  administrative 
activity.  But  when  we  study  the  position  of  child-protec- 
tion in  the  individual  countries  of  Europe,  we  see  at  once 
that  that  position  is  influenced  mainly  by  one  consideration, 
namely,  the  legal  status  of  the  illegitimate  child,  Numerous 
and  important  branches  of  child-protection — the  care  of  found- 
lings, for  instance — are  concerned  chiefly  with  illegitimate 
children ;  and  in  other  departments  of  child-protection  the 
protection  of  the  illegitimate  must  be  more  vigorous  than 
that  of  the  legitimate.  But  the  more  unfavourable  the  legal 
status  of  the  illegitimate  child,  the  more  energetic  must  in- 
tervention be  from  the  side  of  criminal  law  and  from  that 
of  local  administration,  not  only  for  the  protection  of  the 
illegitimate  themselves,  but  also  for  the  protection  of  society 
against  the  illegitimate.  Where  the  status  of  the  illegitimate 
child  is  a  favourable  one,  the  importance  of  child-protection 
by  means  of  criminal  law  and  local  administrative  activity 
is  much  less  than  elsewhere. 

The  Teutonic  and  the  Latin  methods  of  dealing  with 
illegitimate  children  are  distinguished  by  the  fact  that  in 
the  Teutonic  States  inquiry  into  paternity  is  permitted, 
whilst  in  the  Latin  States  it  is  forbidden.  Where  the 
Latin  system  prevails — that  is,  where  inquiry  into  paternity 
is  forbidden — as  in  France  and  Italy,  the  local  authorities 
find  it  necessary  to  board  out  more  children  than  in  those 
countries  in  which  the  inquiry  into  paternity  is  allowed ;  for 
in  the  latter  a  larger  proportion  of  unmarried  mothers  secure 
an  allowance  for  maintenance  from  the  fathers  of  their  chil- 
dren, and  for  this  reason  more  illegitimate  children  are 
boarded    out    directly    by    the    mothers.       An    assimilation 


I02  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

of  the  legal  status  of  legitimate  and  illegitimate  children  would 
obviate  numerous  evils,  so  that  a  few  paragraphs  in  the  code 
of  civil  law  would  render  superfluous  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  the  child-protection  now  dependent  upon  criminal  law 
and  local  administrative  activity. 

Until  the  Italian  legal  code  provides  for  the  proper  recog- 
nition of  jigli  di  genitori  ignoti,  any  attempt  at  administra- 
tive reform  of  the  Italian  methods  of  dealing  with  foundlings 
would  be  futile.  [In  Italy,  not  even  the  mother  is  compelled 
to  recognise  her  child ;  recognition  must  not  be  confused  with 
legitimisation.  A  child  which  is  recognised  neither  by  the 
father  nor  by  the  mother  is  termed  Jiglio  di  genitori  ignoti  (the 
child  of  unknown  parents),  and  it  is  only  a  child  recognised 
by  at  least  one  parent  which  is  termed  ^^/to  illcgitimo  (illegiti- 
mate child).]  As  long  as  Section  340  of  the  French  Civil 
Code  continues  to  state  categorically,  "  La  recherche  de  la 
paternity  est  interdite,"  not  even  the  risk  of  capital  punish- 
ment will  restrain  from  infanticide  the  mother  of  an  ille^iti- 

o 

mate  child,  more  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  in  such 
cases  humanely  disposed  jurymen  now  so  frequently  bring 
in  a  verdict  of  Not  Guilty. 

It  may  be  hoped  that  before  long  it  will  be  generally 
recognised  that  any  attempt  to  reform  child -protection,  and 
especially  our  dealings  with  foundlings,  must  begin  with  a 
reform  in  the  legal  status  of  the  illegitimate  child.  Never- 
theless, child-protection  by  the  local  authorities  and  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  criminal  law,  and,  above  all,  our 
ways  of  dealing  with  foundlings,  exert  a  great  influence  upon 
the  position  of  illegitimate  children.  It  is  still  in  dispute 
whether  these  things  aftect  the  numbers  of  illegitimate  chil- 
dren. It  is  widely  assumed  that  the  existence  of  foundling 
hospitals  leads  to  an  increase  in  the  number  of  illegitimate 
children.  But  in  reality  foundling  hospitals  are  not  a  cause, 
but  a  consequence,  of  the  large  numbers  of  illegitimate 
children. 

The  Tendency  of  Evolution. — As  time  goes  on,  the  posi- 
tion of  illegitimate  children  steadily  improves.  Formerly, 
illegitimacy  entailed  grave  civil  and  ecclesiastical  disabili- 
ties;   to-day,  the   only  difl'erences   between  illegitimate    and 


The  Pi^otection  of  Illegitwtate  Children        103 

legitimate  children  concern  their  respective  legal  status,  and 
even  the^e  differences  are  gradually  disappearing.  The  cir- 
cumstance that  public  opinion  is  taking  an  ever  milder  view 
regarding  illegitimate  sexual  intimacy,  exercises  a  great  in- 
fluence upon  the  position  of  the  illegitimate  child,  and  a 
much  more  extensive  mitigation  of  public  opinion  in  this 
direction  may  be  confidently  anticipated.  The  fate  of  the 
illegitimate  child  is  greatly  influenced  by  the  judgment  passed 
upon  illegitimate  sexual  intercourse  by  the  associates,  parents, 
and  relatives  of  the  mother.  Among  the  Jews,  owing  to  the 
sacred  character  of  their  family  life,  the  birth  of  illegitimate 
children  was  altogether  exceptional.  But  such  a  high  esti- 
mation of  marriage  is  apt  to  result  in  complete  rupture  of 
relations  between  the  fallen  one  and  her  family.  Although 
among  the  Jews  infant  mortality  in  general  is  lower  than 
among  the  Gentiles,  the  mortality  of  illegitimate  children 
among  the  Jews  is  even  higher  than  among  the  Gentile 
population. 

In  most  countries  to-day  we  may  observe  an  unmis- 
takable tendency  towards  the  improvement  of  the  legal  posi- 
tion of  the  illegitimate  child.  This  tendency  is  perceptible 
in  those  countries  in  which  inquiry  into  paternity  is  per- 
mitted. In  the  Latin  countries  the  necessity  of  permitting 
inquiry  into  paternity  is  becoming  more  and  more  widely 
recognised.  In  many  countries  we  find,  often  in  association 
with  foundling  hospitals,  institutions  for  the  provision  of 
maintenance  for  illegitimate  children. 

The  reforms  of  the  immediate  future,  some  of  which,  in 
certain  countries,  have  actually  been  effected,  are  the  follow- 
ing :  (a)  In  every  country  the  inquiry  into  paternity  must 
be  permitted.  (Z))  The  legal  proceedings  for  the  discovery 
of  paternity  must  be  initiated  and  pursued  by  the  local 
authorities  or  some  other  official  body,  (c)  Where  the  father 
fails  to  pay  the  necessary  maintenance  for  his  illegitimate 
child,  vigorous  measures  of  compulsion  must  be  available 
(imprisonment,  forced  labour,  &c.).  Such  measures  of  com- 
pulsion already  exist  in  many  countries.  id)  The  child's 
maintenance  should  not  be  merely  such  as  will  provide  what 
are  called  "  bare  necessaries,"  but  should  suffice  for  its  proper 


I04  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

upbringing,  {c)  The  natural  father  should  be  forced  to  pay, 
not  for  the  child's  maintenance  only,  but  also  the  mother's 
expenses  in  childbed ;  he  should  be  forced  to  contribute  the 
last-named  expenses,  and  what  is  necessary  for  the  child's 
maintenance  shortly  after  birth,  before  the  child  is  actually 
born — that  is,  at  a  time  when  the  needs  of  mother  and  child 
are  greatest.  (/)  The  objections  which  the  father  is  to-day 
able  to  raise  in  bastardy  actions  should  be  abolished. 

A  Radical  Reform. — Marriage  will  best  be  protected  by 
preventing  the  birth  of  illegitimate  children.  This  can  only 
be  effected  by  imposing  upon  the  father  of  an  illegitimate 
child  the  same  responsibilities  that  are  now  imposed  upon  the 
father  of  a  legitimate  child.  Men  would  be  much  more 
careful  to  avoid  the  procreation  of  illegitimate  children  if 
they  were  unable  to  get  off  so  cheaply  as  they  can  to-day. 
The  objection  that  in  the  moment  of  passion  no  one  thinks  of 
consequences  is  unsound.  In  most  cases,  before  the  sexual 
act  there  is  a  period  in  which  the  man  has  leisure  to  think  of 
the  consequences  of  what  he  is  going  to  do.  The  fact  that  in 
countries  in  which  inquiry  into  paternity  is  permitted  the 
number  of  illegitimate  children  is  no  smaller  than  in  coun- 
tries in  which  such  inquiry  is  forbidden,  proves  nothing. 
For  other  circumstances  besides  this  influence  the  number 
of  illegitimate  children,  and  in  the  Teutonic  countries  it  is 
probable  that  inquiry  into  paternity  is  permitted  only  in  order 
to  counteract  these  other  factors.  The  objection  that  such 
regulations  as  have  been  proposed  would  promote  immorality, 
that  they  would  make  women  far  more  ready  than  they  are  at 
present  to  enter  into  an  illicit  sexual  relationship,  and  would 
thus  lead  to  an  increase  in  the  number  of  illegitimate  children, 
is  unsound.  The  present  system  tends  to  render  inoperative 
factors  which  might  exercise  a  great  influence  on  the  conduct 
of  the  stronger  sex.  Moreover,  all  these  objections  are  ren- 
dered nugatory  by  the  fact  that  hitherto  the  most  severe 
punishments  and  the  most  extreme  moral  condemnation  of 
illegitimate  sexual  relationships  have  not  sufficed  to  hinder 
these. 

It  is  objected  that  the  proposed  reforms  could  only  be 
introduced  in  association  with  the  abolition  of  monogamy  and 


The  Protection  of  Illegitimate  Children        105 

the  introduction  of  free  love.  If  the  legal  consequences  of 
marriage  and  of  illegitimate  sexual  union  were  made  identical, 
there  would  be  no  reason  for  entering  the  marriage  state,  for 
monogamy  would  be  a  legal  institution  without  any  peculiar 
legal  consequences.  But  in  marriage  three  distinct  legal 
relationships  have  to  be  considered :  the  mutual  relation- 
ship of  husband  and  wife,  their  relationship  to  persons 
outside  the  family,  and  the  relationship  of  the  parents  to 
their  children.  The  fact  that  the  children  resulting  from  a 
sexual  relationship  are  legitimised  does  not  constitute  that 
relationship  a  marriage. 

In  the  interest  of  the  illegitimate  child  the  argument  is 
often  put  forward  that  it  is  not  right  for  the  illegitimate 
child  to  be  punished  for  the  errors  of  its  parents.  This 
argument  is  totally  false.  If  the  interest  of  marriage  and 
that  of  society  really  demanded  that  the  legal  position  of 
the  illegitimate  child  should  be  an  unfavourable  one,  the 
circumstance  that  the  child  is  blameless  is  altogether  irre- 
levant. The  interest  of  society  is  paramount,  and  in  case  of 
need  even  innocent  children  must  be  sacrificed  to  this  interest. 


CHAPTER   IV 

LIMITED   POWERS   OF    MINORS   AND   GUARDIANSHIP 

Limited  Powers  of  Minors. — The  legal  protection  of  the 
child  against  the  consequences  of  its  own  acts  is  closely 
associated  with  the  questions  of  parental  authority  and  of 
guardianship.  In  fact  the  regulation  of  this  matter  really 
forms  part  of  the  regulation  of  parental  authority  and  of 
guardianship.  The  minor  lacks  the  requisite  degree  of 
intellectual  maturity  and  of  business  experience  to  enable 
it  to  act  independently  in  legal  matters  without  injury  to 
its  own  interests ;  hence,  in  the  matter  of  legacies,  it  often 
happens  that  a  child  is  willing  to  enter  into  bargains  which 
its  maturer  judgment  would  rightly  repudiate.  The  law, 
indeed,  protects  everyone  against  usury  and  extortion,  and 
gives  to  everyone  the  legal  right  to  dispute  the  validity  of  an 
undertaking  extracted  from  him  by  knavery  or  under  stress 
of  threats.  But  these  institutions  would  not  suffice  to  protect 
children,  inasmuch  as  the  right  to  repudiate  an  undertaking 
when  that  undertaking  has  already  been  acted  upon  would 
be  of  extremely  questionable  value.  Moreover,  the  law  of 
parcimony  forbids  that  persons  should  enter  into  legal  under- 
takings, and  subsequently  attempt  to  repudiate  them. 

The  special  legal  protection  conferred  upon  minors  con- 
sists of  a  limitation  of  their  powers  to  enter  into  valid  business 
engagements,  the  extent  and  consequences  of  the  limitation 
being  such  as  to  render  any  engagements  made  by  minors  as 
harmless  as  possible.  In  the  majority  of  legal  systems,  this 
leading  idea  is  carried  into  effect  as  follows.  Two  classes  of 
undertaking  are  distinguished :  first,  those  by  which  the  minor 
acquires  certain  rights  or  is  freed  from  certain  obligations ; 
and,  secondly,  those  which  effect  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other.     Inasmuch  as  undertakings  of  the   first-named  order 


Limited  Powers  of  Minors  and  Guardianship     107 

are  only  such  as  are  to  the  minor's  advantage,  no  guardianship 
is  necessary  in  the  case  of  these,  and  the  minor's  powers  to 
act  are  here  unrestricted.  But  undertakings  of  the  last- 
named  order  can  be  entered  into  by  a  minor  only  with  the 
consent  of  his  legal  representative ;  thus,  a  disadvantageous 
undertaking  given  by  a  minor  without  the  consent  of  his 
legal  representative  is  invalid,  and  the  validity  of  the  under- 
taking is  conditional  upon  the  consent  of  the  guardian. 

The  Tendency  of  Evolution. — Two  points  have  especially  to 
be  considered  in  respect  of  the  future  regulation  of  this 
problem :  the  abolition  of  free  competition,  and  the  abolition 
of  the  right  of  individual  inheritance.  Many  persons  consider 
that  it  would  be  a  logical  outcome  of  the  abolition  of  the 
right  of  individual  inheritance  for  the  State  to  undertake  the 
maintenance  of  all  widows  and  orphans,  either  through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  system  of  compulsory  insurance  analogous 
to  Workmen's  Insurance,  or  else  by  a  method  of  provision 
analogous  to  that  now  made  for  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
those  in  the  employ  of  the  State. 

The  Nature  of  Guardianship. — The  purpose  of  guardianship 
is  to  provide  minors  with  the  equivalent  of  parents.  A 
guardian  is  appointed  for  a  minor  when  the  latter  is  not 
subjected  to  any  parental  authority ;  or  when,  although  the 
minor  has  parents,  these  are  unfitted,  through  lack  of  means 
or  through  defect  of  personal  character,  to  make  a  proper  use 
of  their  parental  authority.  The  analogy  between  parental 
authority  and  guardianship  should  result  in  the  guardian,  in 
his  care  for  the  person  and  property  of  the  ward,  being 
invested  with  almost  the  same  duties  and  rights  as  belong 
to  the  possessor  of  parental  authority.  But  since  the  relation- 
ship between  ward  and  guardian  is  less  intimate  than  the 
relationship  between  a  child  and  its  parents,  the  guardian's 
sphere  of  activity  is  naturally  a  more  restricted  one.  For 
example,  in  respect  of  certain  very  important  undertakings, 
outside  the  limits  of  the  guardian's  usual  sphere  of  adminis- 
trative activity,  the  hitter's  powers  are  restricted  by  the 
qualification  that  in  such  cases  the  undertaking  is  rendered 
valid  only  with  the  prior  assent  of  the  Board  of  Guardianship 
(see  footnote  to  p.  74). 


io8  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

Guardianship  of  Poor  Children. — The  principal  aim  of 
guardianship  to-day  is  to  provide  for  the  careful  administra- 
tion of  the  property  of  the  ward,  and  it  thus  has  no  bearing 
upon  the  fate  of  orphans  of  the  proletarian  class,  although  these 
are  really  more  in  need  of  guardianship  than  orphan  children 
belonging  to  the  upper  classes.  The  only  "  property  "  of  the 
proletarian  child,  whether  orphaned  or  not,  is  its  power  of 
working  for  wages.  The  adequate  cultivation  and  utilisation 
of  this  power  is  more  important  to  the  proletarian  child  than 
the  right  administration  of  its  property  is  to  the  child  of  the 
well-to-do.  Although,  as  a  rule,  the  proletarian  child  begins  to 
work  for  wages  while  still  under  age,  our  existing  legal  systems 
make  no  provision  for  guardians  and  the  Board  of  Guardian- 
ship to  exercise  much  influence  upon  the  working  conditions 
of  such  children.  It  is  owing  to  this  defect  in  our  laws  that 
the  exploitation  of  the  labour-power  of  minors  is  so  widely 
prevalent. 

To  obviate  these  disadvantages,  the  following  institutions 
are  necessary,  although  they  would  temporarily  interfere  with 
social  intercourse.  Contracts  of  service  in  the  case  of  minors 
should  not  be  valid  without  the  assent  of  the  latter 's  legal 
representatives  and  that  of  the  Board  of  Guardianship,  and 
such  contracts  should  be  terminable  at  any  time  by  the  legal 
representative  with  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Guardianship. 
Should  the  parents  of  a  child  secretly  arrange  for  it  a  contract 
of  service,  or  should  they  compel  the  child  to  work  for  wages, 
they  should  have  no  legal  claim  to  any  portion  of  these  wages. 
Where  such  measures  are  in  operation,  as  in  some  of  the  States 
of  the  American  Union,  children  are  much  less  frequently 
compelled  by  their  parents  to  work  for  wages. 

Gruardianship  of  Illegitimate  Children. — The  guardianship  of 
illegitimate  children  is  a  matter  of  great  importance :  first, 
because  a  very  large  number  of  influences  affect  illegitimate 
children  unfavourably,  and  the  children  have  to  be  protected 
against  these  influences  ;  secondly,  because  the  guardian  has 
to  safeguard  the  interests  of  his  ward  against  the  natural  father 
and  also  against  the  Destitution  Authority ;  thirdly,  because  in 
many  countries  the  laws  provide  that  every  illegitimate  child 
should  have  a  guardian.     Who  should  be  the  guardian  of  an 


Limited  Powers  of  Alinors  and  Guardianship      109 

illegitimate   child  ?      The  guardian  may  be,  (a)  the  mother, 
{h)  the  father,  (c)  some  other  relative,  {d)  a  stranger. 

(«)  According  to  the  laws  of  most  countries,  the  mother 
has  no  parental  authority  over  her  illegitimate  child ;  indeed, 
in  some  cases,  the  mother  is  not  even  gTanted  legal  powers  of 
guardianship  over  her  illegitimate  child  (or  is  granted  such 
powers  only  if  she  herself  is  of  full  age).     The  reasons  for  this 
are  as  follows :  The  considerations  on  account  of  which  the 
granting  of  parental  authority  to  the  married  mother  is  regarded 
as  permissible,  have   no   bearing  upon   the   case   of  the   un- 
married mother.     The  interest  of  the  illegitimate  child,  and, 
indirectly,  the  interest  of  society  at  large,  urgently  demand 
the  securest  possible  guarantees  that  the  child  will  be  properly 
brought   up.      Even  if  the  unmarried  mother  is  capable   of 
undertaking  and  exercising  the  duties  and  rights  involved  in 
parental  authority,  she  still  too  often  lacks  the  necessary  good- 
will  and  the  requisite  earnestness.     In  many  cases  the  un- 
married  mother   does  not  feel  for  her  illegitimate  child  the 
interest  and  the  love  which  are  felt  by  the  married  mother  for 
the  legitimate  child ;  she  is  rather  inclined  to  be  indifferent 
towards  her  illegitimate  child,  and  to  regard  it  merely  as  a 
serious  burden,  from  which  she  hopes  to  be  free,  and  the  sooner 
the  better.     In  addition,  the  unmarried  mother  seldom  has  a 
settled  home  of  her  own,  and  in  order  to  gain  her  livelihood 
she  commonly  has  to  separate  herself  from  her  child.      More- 
over, the  position  of  the  unmarried  mother  differs  from  that  of 
the  married  mother  in  this  respect,  that  the  latter,  as  a  rule, 
does  not  acquire  the  parental  authority  until  after  the  death  of 
her  child's  father — that  is  to  say,  when  she  is  herself  of  mature 
age.     The  care  of  the  property  and  the  exercise  of  the  powers 
of  a  legal  representative  are  associated  with  the  exercise  of 
parental  authority,  and  there  is  an  obvious  danger,  in  many 
instances,  that  a  thoughtless  mother  might  utilise  the  child's 
property — more  especially  an  allowance  for  maintenance  made 
by  the  father,  or  a  capital  sum  paid  by  the  latter  to  provide 
for  the  child — in  her  own  interest,  instead  of  in  that  of  the 
child,  and  that  in  this  way  the  provision  made  by  the  child's 
natural  father  would  be  unprofitably  employed.     If  the  mother 
of  an  illegitimate  child  be  disallowed  the  right  of  acting  as  the 


no  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

child's  legal  representative,  we  obviate  the  danger  that  that 
right  may  be  misused  by  a  dissolute  or  thoughtless  mother  by 
making  fraudulent  claims  for  a  bastardy  allowance  in  the  name 
of  the  child  upon  various  men  who  may  have  had  intercourse 
with  her  during  the  period  of  pregnancy.  In  many  cases,  un- 
married mothers  are  dissolute,  extravagant,  and  therefore  un- 
trustworthy persons,  and  for  this  reason  it  is  in  the  interest  of 
morality  that  the  unmarried  mother  should  not  be  able  to 
derive  any  direct  pecuniary  advantage  as  a  result  of  her 
position.  Often  she  cannot  or  will  not  make  the  necessary 
claim  upon  the  father  of  the  child,  either  from  shame  or  from 
undue  sentimentality,  or,  again,  because  she  still  secretly  hopes 
that  he  will  marry  her,  and  fears  to  offend  him,  or,  finally,  be- 
cause in  many  cases  she  is  not  herself  certain  who  is  the  father 
of  her  child.  The  various  reasons  we  have  been  considering 
are  not  altogether  free  from  objection.  The  advocates  of  the 
emancipation  of  women,  and  also  the  socialists,  contest  these 
reasons  with  considerable  force  on  the  ground  that  other 
persons  than  the  mother  of  an  illegitimate  child,  who  are 
suggested  as  guardians,  are  even  less  fitted  for  the  position 
than  she  may  be  herself. 

{l))  It  is  impossible,  in  any  case,  that  the  natural  father 
should  be  the  child's  guardian.  How,  for  example,  can  he 
be  expected  to  sue  himself  for  the  child's  maintenance  ?  It 
often  happens  that  the  mother  refuses  to  name  the  father 
of  her  child,  but  recommends  him  as  guardian,  and  he  actually 
is  in  some  cases  appointed  guardian.  To  avoid  this,  many  wish 
to  make  it  the  mother's  legal  duty  to  disclose  the  name  of  the 
child's  father  to  the  Board  of  Guardianship. 

(c)  One  of  the  child's  relatives  is  no  suitable  person  for 
guardian.  The  mother's  relatives  have  in  most  cases  broken 
with  the  mother  owing  to  the  birth  of  the  illegitimate  child. 
The  relatives  of  the  father  of  an  illegitimate  child  are  as  little 
suited  to  act  as  guardians  as  the  father  himself. 

{d)  A  stranger  is  utterly  unsuitable  for  the  guardianship 
of  an  illegitimate  child.  In  most  cases  he  has  no  interest 
whatever  in  the  child,  and  very  frequently,  from  sheer  laziness, 
he  fails  to  make  good  the  claim  for  maintenance  against  the 
father.     Indeed,  he  is  not  in  a  position  to  make  such  a  claim 


Limited  Powers  of  Minoi's  and  Guardianship      1 1 1 

good.  He  is  ill-informed,  inexperienced,  ignorant  of  the  law, 
does  not  understand  the  procedure  of  the  Boards  of  Guardian- 
ship, and  is  incompetent  to  overcome  the  mother's  opposition. 
His  appointment  is  often  long  delayed,  although  it  is  a  fact 
of  general  experience  that  a  claim  for  maintenance  can  more 
readily  be  established  the  earlier  proceedings  are  taken  against 
the  father.  The  father  often  changes  his  residence,  and  the 
guardian  has  no  facilities  for  obtaining  information  about  his 
dwelling-place  or  his  means. 

The  Defects  of  Individual  Guardianship. — As  time  goes  on 
it  becomes  increasingly  difficult  to  obtain  suitable  guardians 
for  children  of  the  lower  classes.  Owing  to  the  increasing 
frequency  of  migration,  owing  to  the  search  for  work  and 
means  of  livelihood,  and  owing  to  the  development  of  the 
means  of  communication,  the  wider  family  ties  have  been 
loosened  and  in  part  entirely  destroyed.  Since  it  is  only  in 
the  case  of  propertied  wards  that  the  guardian  receives  any 
remuneration,  the  guardianship  of  a  ward  without  means  is 
a  purely  honorary  office.  But  we  cannot  rely  upon  finding  a 
self-sacrificing  disposition  in  the  relatives  of  a  proletarian  child. 
If  a  man  of  a  higher  class  than  that  to  which  the  child  belongs 
be  appointed,  he  will  be  afraid  lest  he  should  have  to  put  his 
hand  in  his  own  pocket.  If  a  man  of  a  lower  class  be  appointed, 
the  child  will  not  regard  him  with  the  necessary  respect. 

In  small  communities,  where  the  circumstances  are  simple, 
where  the  number  of  births  and  deaths  is  small,  where  every- 
one knows  everyone  else,  and  where  the  guardian  is  under 
the  control  of  everybody,  the  difficulties  are  not  so  great. 
But  in  large  towns  the  population  is  in  a  state  of  continual 
flux,  a  large  proportion  has  immigrated  from  the  country 
districts,  and  has  neither  relatives  nor  acquaintances  in  the 
towns,  and  the  Boards  of  Guardianship  are  unlikely  to  know 
anyone  suitable  for  the  position  of  guardian.  In  large  towns, 
persons  living  under  the  same  roof  may  be  utter  strangers, 
not  knowing  one  another's  name  nor  even  one  another's  general 
appearance.  Since  the  appointment  as  guardian  is  one  which 
as  a  rule  cannot  be  refused,  it  is  easy  to  understand  the  manner 
in  which  one  who  has  been  appointed  guardian  against  his 
will  is  likely  to  neglect  his  duties.     As  the  legal  representative 


112  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

of  tlae  child,  the  guardian  has  frequent  dealing  with  the  local 
authorities.  Since  the  ward  can  make  claims  upon  the  Desti- 
tution Authority,  his  domicile  must  be  established,  for  which 
purpose  it  may  be  necessary  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  locality  in 
question,  &c. 

The  guardian,  especially  one  who  belongs  to  the  lower 
classes,  is  without  experience,  is  ignorant  of  the  law,  is  ignorant 
of  the  methods  of  procedure  of  the  local  authorities,  and  fails 
to  inspire  respect  in  the  strangers  with  whom  he  has  to  deal. 
Often  the  guardian,  far  from  assisting  the  poor-law  authorities 
in  their  work,  puts  needless  obstacles  in  the  way  of  these  latter, 
and  renders  it  difficult  for  them  to  carry  out  their  aims. 
This  last  remark  applies  even  more  forcibly  to  the  other 
legal  representatives  of  minors,  viz.  to  their  parents.  It  often 
happens  that  the  legal  representative  endeavours  to  exercise 
an  evil  influence  upon  a  child  under  the  care  of  the  poor-law 
authorities ;  while  the  child  is  still  quite  young,  he  ignores  its 
existence,  but  as  soon  as  it  attains  an  age  at  which  it  becomes 
competent  to  earn  any  money,  he  demands  that  it  should  be 
handed  over  to  his  care.  If  the  Board  surrenders  the  care 
of  the  child,  all  the  trouble  previously  taken  to  bring  it  up 
properly  will  usually  be  found  to  have  been  wasted,  for  the  child 
now  returns  to  the  evil  environment  from  which  it  had  formerly 
been  removed.  In  England,  a  law  passed  in  the  year  1899 
gives  the  Poor  Law  Guardians  the  right  to  refuse  to  accede  to 
the  request  of  parents  that  a  child  should  be  restored  to  their 
care  in  cases  in  which  the  parents'  life  is  such  as  to  make  it  im- 
possible for  them  to  provide  for  the  child's  regular  education,  or 
when  the  parents  are  persons  with  vicious  habits.  Attempts 
are  being  made  to  improve  the  system  of  individual  guardian- 
ship, by  a  thorough  reconstruction,  by  the  organisation  of  the 
guardians,  &c.  It  is  mainly  owing  to  the  defects  that  have 
been  pointed  out  in  the  system  of  individual  guardianship 
that  official  (general  or  collective)  guardianship,  and  institu- 
tional guardianship,  have  come  into  existence. 

Nature  of  Official  and  Institutional  Guardianship. — The  legal 
basis  of  official  guardianship  is  the  right  and  the  duty  of 
the  State  to  act  as  the  supreme  guardian  of  all  minors. 
Its  characteristics  are  as  follows:  Over  a  specified  group   of 


Limited  Powers  of  Minors  and  Guardianship      113 

children — children  put  out  to  nurse,  foundlings,  or  illegitimate 
children,  a  particular  person  (he  may  be  a  private  individual 
or  one  in  an  official  position),  in  virtue  of  the  authority  of  the 
law  (that  is,  without  specific  appointment  in  each  case,  and 
without  the  option  of  refusing  in  particular  cases  to  exercise 
his  powers),  exercises  the  powers  of  a  guardian.  In  certain 
cases,  official  guardianship  involves  powers  superseding  those 
of  ordinary  parental  authority  (this  applies  to  the  case  of 
illegitimate  children,  destitute  children,  and  children  put  out 
to  nurse).  There  can  be  no  reasonable  objection  to  this,  for 
in  such  cases  the  parents'  own  authority  exists  de  jure  only, 
and  not  de  facto.  But  the  parental  authority  is  not  irrevocably 
invested  in  the  official  guardian,  and  the  latter  exercises  only 
such  rights  and  duties  as  properly  belong  to  a  guardian. 
For  example,  the  right  of  usufruct  in  a  child's  property 
cannot  be  assigned  to  the  official  guardian.  Institutional 
guardianship  consists  in  the  exercise  of  guardianship  by  a 
State  educational  institution,  or  other  State  institution  for  the 
care  of  children,  over  children  in  that  institution,  the  actual 
powers  of  guardianship  being  invested  in  the  director  or  some 
other  official  of  the  institution. 

Advantages  of  Official  and  Institutional  Guardianship. — {a) 
The  local  authorities  entrusted  with  the  general  care  of  a 
particular  group  of  children — destitute  children,  for  instance 
— can  readily,  and  with  little  additional  trouble,  assume  the 
duties  of  guardianship.  Experience  shows  that  this  combina- 
tion of  duties  gives  extremely  satisfactory  results,  without 
imposing  on  the  Boards  in  question  any  serious  increase  in 
their  duties.  The  administrative  Boards  controlling  reforma- 
tory schools  must,  if  their  duties  are  to  be  properly  performed, 
possess  unlimited  authority  in  respect  of  all  matters  bearing  on 
the  upbringing  of  those  under  their  care.  In  Europe,  the  official 
guardianship  of  morally  uncontrollable  children  is  likely  to  bring 
into  being  a  system  of  children's  courts,  with  probation  officers, 
or  to  develop  that  system  further  where  it  already  exists. 

(6)  The  official  guardian  is  much  better  able  than  the 
individual  guardian  to  make  good  the  claim  for  a  maintenance 
allowance  for  an  illegitimate  child.  The  official  guardian, 
who  is  in  most  cases  an  official  working  on  behalf  of  the  poor- 

H 


114  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

law  authorities,  will  push  such  a  claim  with  the  greatest 
possible  vigour,  in  order  to  prevent  the  cost  of  the  child's 
maintenance  from  coming  upon  the  poor  law.  The  official 
guardian  will  be  actively  at  work  on  the  child's  behalf  within 
a  very  few  days  of  its  birth,  and  will  probably  have  been 
able  to  secure  that  a  proper  provision  for  maintenance  shall 
have  been  made  at  the  very  time  when  it  is  most  urgently 
needed.  The  father  will  show  much  more  respect  to  the 
official  guardian — a  man  in  an  official  position — than  he  will 
to  the  individual  guardian.  In  Germany  it  has  been  the 
general  experience,  that  in  most  cases  the  father  of  an  illegiti- 
mate child,  when  summoned  by  the  official  guardian,  puts  in 
an  appearance,  admits  his  paternity,  recognises  the  child,  and 
undertakes  to  make  an  allowance  for  maintenance.  Nor 
does  it  so  rarely  happen  that,  under  the  persuasion  of  the 
official  guardian,  the  child's  father  and  mother  agree  to 
marry,  and  to  legitimise  their  child.  The  official  guardian 
owes  his  influence  to  his  official  position. 

(c)  The  official  guardian  possesses  special  legal  and 
educational  experience,  and  in  the  management  of  the  large 
number  of  cases  with  which  he  has  to  deal  acquires  yet  more 
experience.  For  these  reasons  he  is  often  consulted  in  difficult 
cases  by  individual  guardians,  and  even  by  many  parents. 

id,)  It  is  easier  for  the  official  guardian  than  it  is  for 
the  private  guardian  to  find  suitable  employment  for  his 
wards.  He  is  better  acquainted  with  employers  and  with 
w^orking  conditions.  It  is  not  to  his  interest  that  his  wards 
should  begin  wage-earning  at  the  earliest  possible  age ;  thus, 
under  his  guardianship,  many  who  would  otherwise  have 
become  unskilled  labourers,  are  trained  to  be  skilled  artisans. 
(But  to  make  it  possible  to  attain  this  end,  and  because  the 
years  immediately  after  leaving  school  are  the  years  most 
dangerous  to  the  child,  the  official  guardianship  must  be 
continued  until  the  child  attains  its  majority.) 

(e)  Since  the  existence  of  the  official  guardian  makes  the 
appointment  of  private  guardians  superfluous,  the  persons 
Avho  would  have  otherwise  been  engaged  as  private  guardians 
are  set  free  for  other  spheres  of  activity. 

(/)  Institutional  guardianship  renders  it  possible  for  the 


Limited  Powers  of  Minors  and  Guardianship     1 1 5 

influence  of  the  guardians  to  be  maintained  very  effectively 
even  after  tlie  minor  has  left  the  institution. 

Objections  to  Collective  and  Institutional  Guardianship. — The 
following  objections  to  collective  and  to  institutional  guardian- 
ship have  been  put  forward,  {a)  A  conflict  of  interests  and 
duties  may  arise.  The  business  of  the  poor-law  authorities  is 
to  keep  down  expenses,  but  the  guardian  has  to  think  first  of 
all  of  the  interests  of  his  ward,  who  may  need  the  financial 
assistance  of  the  poor-law  authorities.  (Jb)  The  local  authorities 
are  not  in  a  position  to  carry  out  properly  the  duties  of  official 
guardianship.  In  a  large  local  governmental  area  the  circum- 
stances of  individual  residents  are  not  adequately  known ;  whilst 
in  a  small  area,  suitable  official  guardians  are  not  likely  to  be 
forthcoming,  (c)  The  authority  administering  the  work  of 
official  guardianship  has  to  accept  a  position  of  subordination  in 
relation  to  the  (central)  Board  of  Guardianship.  Thus  there 
arises  friction,  and  the  autonomy  of  the  local  authorities  may 
even  be  endangered,  {d)  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  wards 
under  the  charge  of  an  official  guardian  are  very  numerous,  the 
duties  are  necessarily  discharged  in  a  bureaucratic  and  stereo- 
typed manner,  and  the  requisite  individualisation  is  lacking. 

These  Objections  Ansivered. — There  is  no  doubt  whatever 
that  official  guardianship  gives  better  results  than  an  other- 
wise equally  efficient  system  of  private  guardianship.  But 
the  very  statement  of  the  antithesis  involves  a  fallacy,  for 
the  kernel  of  the  matter  is,  that  in  cases  in  which  no  com- 
petent and  willing  individual  guardian  is  available,  the  official 
guardian  is  there  to  take  over  the  necessary  duties.  The  fact 
that  an  official  guardian  exists  need  not  prevent  the  placing 
of  the  child  under  the  guardianship  of  a  suitable  private 
person,  should  such  a  one  be  forthcoming.  Objection  (&) 
is  valid  to  this  extent,  that  in  small  local  governmental  areas, 
in  which  the  cost  of  official  guardianship  falls  upon  the  poor 
rate,  and  the  burden  of  this  rate  is  grievously  felt,  official 
guardianship  cannot  be  properly  carried  out.  Objection  {d) 
has  but  little  validity.  Of  course,  the  official  guardian  cannot 
do  everything  himself.  He  must  have  confidential  assistants, 
who  will  visit  the  foster-parents  of  the  ward,  and  report  to 
him   everything   of   importance    concerning   the   child.     The 


1 1 6  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

official  guardian  has  not  only  to  supervise  the  work  of  these 
confidential  assistants,  to  support  them  with  his  advice  in 
difficult  cases,  and  to  control  the  necessary  expenditure ;  he 
has  also  to  attend  to  all  the  legal  aspects  of  his  charge,  and 
to  perform  the  duties  entailed  upon  him  as  legal  representative 
of  his  ward.  Thus  the  official  guardian's  duties  may  be 
classified  as  follows :  {a)  the  upbringing  of  his  ward ;  (&)  legal 
duties ;  (c)  the  choice  of  confidential  assistants.  In  the  first 
department,  the  most  important  matter  is  the  careful  choice 
of  the  foster-parents.  The  official  guardian's  experience  and 
business  connections  undoubtedly  make  him  far  more  likely 
than  the  individual  guardian  to  secure  good  foster-parents. 
The  legal  duties  of  the  official  guardian,  such  as  the  provision 
of  maintenance  for  the  child,  are  merely  routine  official  duties. 
It  is  much  easier  to  secure  the  requisite  ten  confidential 
assistants  than  to  secure  a  hundred  private  guardians. 

Tlie  Tendency  of  Evohdion. — (a)  The  property  of  a  ward 
is  usually  inherited,  and  as  time  goes  on  such  property  becomes 
of  less  and  less  importance.  The  guardianship  we  are  con- 
sidering here  has  very  little  to  do  with  such  questions  of 
property,  and  the  guardian's  activities  are  practically  limited 
to  securing  the  personal  well-being  of  the  child.  (6)  Official 
guardianship  is  a  typical  example,  on  the  one  hand,  of  the 
manner  in  which  a  matter  appertaining  to  civil  law  tends 
to  become  an  affair  of  local  administrative  activity,  and  in 
which  duties  originally  honorary  and  benevolent  tend  to  pass 
into  the  hands  of  a  salaried  public  official ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  of  the  fact  that  in  this  sphere  also  the  principle  of 
the  division  of  labour  comes  to  be  ever  more  strictly  applied,  so 
that  functions  formerly  exercised  non-professionally  by  private 
individuals  are  now  discharged  professionally  by  public  servants. 

The  importance  of  official  guardianship  has  steadily  in- 
creased. The  idea  that  the  guardianship  of  children  supported 
by  the  community  might  be  exercised  by  the  poor-law 
authorities  was  first  put  into  practice  in  France  towards  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  other  countries  the  same 
idea  has  been  applied  with  greater  or  less  modification.  In 
Germany,  official  and  institutional  guardianship  were  per- 
mitted   by    the   Civil   Code   of   1900,     Official  guardianship 


Limited  Pozvers  of  Minors  and  Guardianship      117 

exists  at  present  only  in  the  larger  towns ;  but  the  institution 
continues  to  spread.  In  France,  a  law  enacted  in  the  year 
1889  permits  the  voluntary  transference  of  parental  authority 
to  the  Assistance  PiiUique,  in  which  case  the  Prefect  or  his 
representative,  the  Departmental  Inspector  des  en/ants  assistes, 
acts  as  guardian.  By  the  law  passed  in  the  year  1904,  the 
same  inspector  acts  as  guardian  of  the  enfants  assistes.  But 
the  inspector  has  no  concern  with  the  enforcement  of  the  rights 
of  illegitimate  children  as  against  their  father,  since  any  inquiry 
into  paternity  is  forbidden  by  the  French  Civil  Code.  Official 
guardianship  exists  in  many  of  the  cantons  of  Switzerland. 

Certain  Civil  Laws  tohich  are  of  Importance  in  Relation  to 
Child-Protection. — (a)  Legitimisation  has  been  considered  above. 
{b)  Adoption  would  be  a  very  important  and  valuable 
institution  from  the  point  of  view  of  child-protection,  if 
adopted  children  were  more  numerous.  The  fact  that  this 
institution  exists  is  often  disadvantageous  from  the  point 
of  view  of  child-protection.  In  many  cases  it  operates  as  an 
obstacle  to  the  legitimisation  of  the  child  by  the  father, 
although  legitimisation  would  be  more  advantageous  to  the 
child  than  adoption.  For  in  many  cases  the  father,  if  he  could 
not  adopt  the  child,  would  legitimise  it.  A  certain  though 
small  proportion  of  foster-parents  adopt  their  foster  children. 
This  tendency  is  certainly  one  worthy  of  encouragement. 

(c)  We  have  also  to  refer  to  the  legal  relationships  which 
arise  when  a  contract  has  been  made  for  the  temporary  or 
permanent,  partial  or  complete,  upbringing  of  a  child.  As 
an  example  of  permanent  and  complete  upbringing,  may  be 
adduced  the  upbringing  of  a  child  by  foster-parents.  In  this 
case,  the  duties  of  the  foster-parent  are  controlled  by  special  legal 
stipulations.  As  an  example  of  temporary  or  partial  upbringing, 
may  be  mentioned  the  case  of  a  child  sent  to  a  boarding  school 
at  a  distance  from  its  home,  a  child  boarding  with  a  family, 
and  various  similar  arrangements.  All  these  legal  relationships 
are  covered  by  the  laws  relating  to  contract,  and  by  the  laws 
relating  to  family  life.  This  is  a  matter  of  considerable  import- 
ance, because,  in  a  legal  relationship  taking  the  forms  of  family 
life,  the  presumption  is  that  a  child's  upbringing  is  effected 
without  any  expectation  of  a  return,  i.e.  gratuitously. 


J5.— DEPARTMENT   OF 
LOCAL   ADMINISTRATIVE   ACTIVITY 

CHAPTER   I 

CHILD  -  PROTECTION   BEFORE,   DURING,   AND 
IMMEDIATELY   AFTER   BIRTH 

Introductory. — The  physical,  mental,  and  moral  health  of 
human  beings  depends  very  largely  upon  the  conditions  in 
which  they  are  brought  up,  upon  the  conditions  which  operate 
upon  them  while  still  within  the  mother's  womb,  and  upon 
the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  born.  Was  the  child 
the  offspring  of  a  legitimate  or  of  an  illegitimate  sexual 
relationship  ?  At  the  time  of  procreation,  were  its  parents 
mentally  and  physically  healthy,  or  were  they  diseased  ? 
During  pregnancy,  was  the  mother  obliged  to  work  for  her 
living,  or  could  she  take  proper  care  of  herself;  did  she  or 
did  she  not  deliberately  attempt  to  injure  or  destroy  the  fruit 
of  her  womb  ?  During  parturition,  did  she  or  did  she  not 
receive  proper  medical  aid  ?  These  are  the  stars  with  a 
knowledge  of  which  we  can  accurately  forecast  the  individual 
human  horoscope. 

Before  Birth. — It  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  that 
pregnant  women  should  regulate  their  lives  in  accordance 
with  certain  elementary  rules  of  hygiene,  and  for  this  reason 
it  is  urgently  necessary  that  women  should  be  properly 
instructed  in  this  respect.  Syphilis  is  one  of  the  most 
potent  causes  of  intra-uterine  death  and  of  abortion  and 
premature  labour.  Everything  possible  should  be  done  to 
prevent  persons  suffering  from  syphilis  practising  sexual  inter- 
course, and  to  protect  the  fruit  of  conception  from  subsequent 
syphilitic  infection.  One  of  the  most  effective  means  of 
prevention  would  be  the  abolition  of  prostitution.      Abortion 


Child- Protection  Before,  During,  and  After  Birth      1 1 9 

is  possible  from  tlie  very  outset  of  pregnancy,  and  attempts  at 
its  prevention  must  therefore  be  taken  in  hand  thus  early. 
In  the  later  stages  of  pregnancy  care  should  be  taken 
to  prevent  pregnant  women  doing  any  arduous  work. 
The  data  obtainable  from  lying-in  hospitals  show  that  the 
vitality  of  the  new-born  infant  is  greater  in  proportion  as 
a  longer  time  is  spent  by  the  mother  in  the  institution 
prior  to  delivery.  The  best  course,  but  one  which  is  at 
present  almost  impracticable,  from  considerations  of  cost, 
would  be  for  pregnant  women  to  enter  a  public  lying-in 
hospital  during  the  sixth  month  of  pregnancy,  and  to 
remain  there  till  the  time  of  delivery,  doing  nothing  more 
than  the  lighter  household  duties  of  the  institution.  A 
less  radical  procedure  would  be  to  prohibit  pregnant  women 
from  workinfj  for  wages  for  a  certain  time — such  as  eight 
weeks — before  the  expected  termination  of  pregnancy.  (At 
the  present  day,  the  only  restrictions  imposed  are  upon  wage- 
earning  by  women  for  a  certain  period  after  childbirth,  and 
this  prohibition  relates  only  to  employment  in  factories  and 
workshops.) 

The  following  are  the  objections  to  the  enforcement  of 
such  a  prohibition  as  has  been  suggested,  (a)  Administra- 
tive difficulties  would  make  it  impossible  of  application  except 
in  the  case  of  women  employed  in  factories  and  workshops. 
{h)  The  prohibition  would  force  pregnant  women,  if  they 
received  no  material  compensation,  to  earn  a  living,  either 
by  prostitution  or  else  by  some  work — perhaps  even  more 
arduous  than  that  which  has  been  forbidden  to  them — 
outside  the  purview  of  the  Factory  Acts ;  in  domestic 
service,  as  sempstresses,  washerwomen,  ironers,  &c.  To-day, 
in  large  factories  and  workshops,  the  employer  pays  no 
attention  to  the  question  whether  his  female  employees  are 
or  are  not  pregnant ;  and  other  employers  than  those  are  dis- 
inclined to  employ  pregnant  women  at  all.  Consider,  for 
instance,  the  case  of  women  servants.  To-day,  many  preg- 
nant women  go  to  work  in  a  factory  or  a  workshop,  simply 
because  there  is  no  other  employment  open  to  them,  (c)  The 
prohibition  would  necessitate  the  compulsory  notification  of 
pregnancy. 


I20  Elements  of  Ckild-Pi'otection 

During  Birth. — The  health  both  of  the  mother  and  of  the 
child  suffers  in  many  cases,  unless  during  and  after  delivery 
the  mother  is  attended  by  a  qualified  midwife  or  by  a  medical 
practitioner.  The  reasons  for  the  frequent  lack  of  skilled 
help  in  such  cases  are  as  follows :  {a)  Poverty ;  (&)  desire  for 
secrecy —  this  particularly  in  unmarried  mothers ;  (c)  in  thinly- 
populated  districts  the  help  of  a  qualified  midwife  or  that 
of  a  medical  practitioner  is  not  always  easy  to  obtain  ;  and 
even  should  such  help  be  forthcoming,  in  the  event  of  serious 
difficulty  in  delivery,  the  assistance  of  a  skilled  specialist  will 
be  unattainable. 

With  regard  to  {a),  it  is  necessary  for  poor  pregnant 
women  that  the  services  of  midwife  and  physician  should 
be  available  gratuitously.  This  may  be  arranged,  either 
through  the  woman  being  attended  gratuitously  in  her  own 
home  by  a  monthly  nurse  or  midwife  and  a  doctor,  the  fees 
of  these  latter  being  paid  out  of  charitable  or  public  funds  for 
poor  relief;  or  else  by  her  free  admission  to  a  public  lying-in 
hospital.  In  many  countries,  the  Krankenkassen^  support 
women  (in  most  cases  only  women  employed  in  factories 
and  workshops)  for  some  weeks  after  delivery,  and  provide 
for  the  free  attendance  of  doctor  and  monthly  nurse  or 
midwife. 

(h)  It  is  necessary  that  unmarried  mothers  should  be 
legally  compelled  to  arrange  for  the  attendance  of  a  midwife 
or  medical  practitioner,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the 
services  of  these  should  be  provided  for  unmarried  mothers 
in  childbirth.  Of  course,  it  would  be  going  too  far  to  insist 
that  unmarried  mothers,  or  other  persons  who  are  aware  of 
their  condition,  should,  under  heavy  penalties,  notify  the  local 
authorities  of  the  state  of  affairs.  Although  such  a  provision 
does  exist  in  the  legal  system  of  several  countries,  it  is 
unworkable  in  practice. 

(c)  With  regard  to  provision  for  proper  midwifery  attend- 
ance in  thinly-populated  districts,  what  is  needed  is  a  proper 
organisation  of  the  services  of  medical  practitioners  or  mid- 

^  Krankenkasien. — These  are  the  executive,  institutions  for  the  administration 
of  the  medical  benefits  of  the  workmen's  insurance  laws  of  Germany,  and  of 
other  countries  with  laws  based  on  the  German  model. — Translator's  Note. 


Child- Protection  Before,  During^  and  After  Birth     1 2 1 

wives  in  such  a  way  that  these  are  equitably  distributed 
throughout  the  country  in  proportion  to  population,  and  so 
that  in  every  local  governmental  area  there  shall  be  at  least 
one  midwife  and  one  doctor.  The  proper  training  of  midwives 
is  a  matter  of  great  importance,  but,  above  all,  a  midwife 
should  understand  that  at  the  least  sign  of  danger  it  is  her 
duty  to  send  for  a  doctor.  It  is  also  a  matter  of  great 
importance  that  all  medical  practitioners  should  have  an 
adequate  training  in  midwifery. 

After  Birth. — In  public  lying-in  hospitals,  women  usually 
remain  no  more  than  one  to  two  weeks  after  delivery ;  they 
are  then  discharged,  regardless  of  their  condition  (physical 
and  mental  helplessness,  &c.).  Those  institutions  which  are 
connected  with  a  foundling  hospital  are  exceptions  in  this 
respect,  for  some  of  the  women  enter  the  foundling  hospital 
as  wet  nurses.  In  the  interest  of  the  child  it  is,  above  all, 
necessary  that  the  mother  should  be  well  cared  for  after 
delivery,  for  it  is  during  the  first  three  or  four  weeks  after 
birth  that  the  child  is  most  of  all  dependent  upon  the  maternal 
breast.  The  resumption  of  work  by  the  mother  very  soon 
after  delivery,  before  the  resolution  of  the  uterus  is  completed, 
and  before  the  abdominal  walls  have  recovered  their  tone, 
plays  a  great  part  in  the  causation  of  the  numerous  acute  and 
chronic  diseases  of  women.  If  the  woman  is  sent  back  into 
the  street  almost  immediately  after  delivery,  she  has  no 
option  but  to  return  to  work.  She  must  do  this,  first,  because 
pregnancy  and  childbirth  have  exhausted  her  savings,  and, 
secondly,  because  she  is  afraid,  if  she  delays  to  return,  that 
she  will  find  her  place  filled.  To-day  this  is  becoming 
generally  understood,  and  institutions  are  arising  in  which 
women  can  be  properly  cared  for  during  and  after  childbirth. 
Homes  for  lying-in  women  and  convalescent  homes,  in  which 
mothers  with  their  children  can  remain  for  a  considerable 
time  after  delivery,  subserve  this  purpose.  Quite  recently, 
organisations  have  been  founded  for  the  domestic  care  of 
women  in  childbed — the  so-called  Hauspfiegevcrcine  (Domestic 
Care  Clubs).  They  send  out  Hauspflegerinnen  (Domestic  Assist- 
ants), who  do  the  housework  of  the  woman  during  her 
confinement,  and  thus  secure  for  her  the  necessary  rest  and 


122  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

quiet.  But,  unfortunately,  in  most  cases,  these  associations 
help  married  women  only.  Very  little  has  as  yet  been 
done  by  the  State  to  help  women  in  childbirth.  All  that 
communal  activity  has  effected  in  this  direction  has  been 
the  work  of  the  community  at  large.  Institutions  are  now 
being  founded,  equipped  with  proper  apparatus  (incubators, 
warm  chambers,  &c.),  in  which  prematurely-born  children  can 
be  cared  for  until  they  acquire  the  normal  powers  of  resistance 
of  the  full-time  infant. 

The  Insuranct  of  Motherhood. — Recently,  the  insurance  of 
motherhood  has  been  recommended,  especially  by  the  advocates 
of  the  emancipation  of  women,  on  the  following  grounds. 
Neglect  of  women  during  pregnancy,  childbirth,  and  the 
lymg-in  period,  and  neglect  of  new-born  infants,  are  responsible 
for  numerous  and  serious  disadvantages.  Childbirth  is  very 
painful  and  extremely  arduous,  and  the  woman  who  gives 
birth  to  a  child  performs  a  supremely  valuable  social  service. 
The  suggestion  is,  that  the  insurance  of  motherhood  should 
provide  for  every  aspect  of  women's  task  of  reproduction.  It 
should  support  women  during  pregnancy ;  during  parturi- 
tion, and  during  the  lying-in  period ;  a  full  allowance  should 
be  provided  for  eight  weeks  before  and  eight  weeks  after 
delivery ;  free  attendance  of  a  midwife,  with  free  medical  help 
if  requisite,  and  such  other  care  as  may  be  needed,  should  be 
provided  for  the  delivery.  In  connection  with  the  insurance 
of  motherhood,  suitable  homes  should  be  erected  for  pregnant 
women,  lying-in  women,  and  new-born  infants,  and  the 
women  and  children  admitted  to  these  institutions  should  be 
gratuitously  supported.  The  insurance  of  motherhood,  it  is 
suggested,  should  be  compulsory,  on  the  one  hand,  for  all 
wage-earning  women,  and,  on  the  other,  for  all  married  women 
whose  husbands  earn  less  than  a  certain  minimum  wage.  All 
these  women  should  pay  contributions.  In  other  respects, 
the  cost  of  the  insurance  of  motherhood  should  be  met  on 
the  same  lines  as  the  cost  of  the  Krankenkassen  (see  note  on 
page  120).  Thus  it  is  not  proposed  that  the  insurance  of 
motherhood  should  take  the  form  of  an  entirely  independent 
branch  of  national  insurance.  Many  contend  that  child-bearing 
is  just  as  necessary  a  branch   of  national   economy   as   the 


Child- P7^otection  Before,  During,  and  After  Birth     123 

wage-paid  labour  of  men,  and  that  for  this  reason  women 
should  be  directly  remunerated  for  this  social  service ;  they 
wish  that  the  insurance  of  motherhood  on  these  lines  should 
provide  for  the  child's  upbringing  until  it  becomes  old  enough 
to  earn  its  own  living.  But  even  the  most  radical  advocates 
of  the  insurance  of  motherhood  regard  this  idea  of  the 
endowment  of  motherhood  as  extreme,  and  as  impracticable 
at  present. 

The  following  objections  have  been  raised  against  the  insur- 
ance of  motherhood,  (a)  No  sound  actuarial  foundation  can  be 
provided  for  such  insurance.  The  birth-rate  cannot  be  pre- 
dicted with  certainty,  so  that  the  amount  of  contributions  and 
the  benefits  cannot  be  calculated  with  the  requisite  precision. 
(&)  Motherhood  depends  upon  physiological  processes,  and 
has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  illness. 

The  objection  (a)  is  based  upon  ignorance  or  upon  mis- 
understanding of  the  facts.  The  expected  number  of  births 
can  be  calculated  with  the  same  precision  as  the  expected 
number  of  deaths.  The  objection  (5)  is  also  erroneous. 
Women  need  medical  aid  during  pregnancy,  childbirth,  and 
the  lying-in  period.  Moreover,  the  aim  of  sickness  insurance 
is  not  merely  the  care  and  the  cure  of  sick  persons,  but  also 
the  prevention  of  the  diseases,  which  in  many  cases  can  be 
prevented  by  the  proper  treatment  of  women  in  pregnancy, 
childbirth,  and  the  lying-in  period.  Since,  in  the  case  of 
pregnancy  and  parturition,  malingering  (for  fear  of  which 
liberal  payment  during  sickness  is  considered  undesirable) 
may  be  almost  entirely  excluded,  the  insurance  of  mother- 
hood can  be  effected  on  very  liberal  terms,  and  there  is  all 
the  more  reason  for  this,  because  pregnancy  and  childbirth 
entail  upon  the  mother  greatly  increased  expenditure.  It  is 
hardly  conceivable  that  women  would  incur  pregnancy  and 
parturition  solely  on  account  of  the  proposed  pecuniary 
advantages. 

Insurance  of  motherhood  is  to-day  of  considerable  import- 
ance in  Germany,  France,  and  Italy.  In  Italy  it  was  intro- 
duced some  years  ago  on  national  lines.  In  France  and 
Germany,  mutual  co-operative  associations  for  this  purpose 
have  been  founded  by  the  women  concerned.     The  principal 


124  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

contributors  to  the  expenses  are  the  insured  themselves,  all 
contributing  alike,  irrespective  of  the  fact  whether  they  are  poor 
or  well-to-do — that  is  to  say,  motherhood  insurance  is  entirely 
free  from  the  characteristics  of  poor  relief.  The  co-operative 
organisations  for  motherhood  insurance  are  run  upon  similar 
lines  to  the  Krankenkassen,  with  which,  indeed,  they  are  some- 
times closely  associated  (Mufterschaftskassenverhdnde),  The 
local  authorities  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  the  matter 
than  to  co-operate  in  the  foundation,  organisation,  and  manage- 
ment of  these  Kasscn.  The  results  of  this  development  have 
been  extremely  satisfactory ;  for  example,  experience  shows 
that  a  much  larger  percentage  of  insured  mothers  than  of 
non-insured  suckle  their  own  children. 

The  Tendency  of  Evolution. — It  is  as  yet  impossible  to  pre- 
dict the  future  course  of  development  in  this  matter,  and  to 
foresee  whether  it  will  take  the  form  of  a  further  elaboration 
of  motherhood  insurance.  This  much  only  is  certain,  that  all 
women  will  receive  proper  care  in  pregnancy,  and  during  and 
after  childbirth.  From  a  certain  stage  in  her  pregnancy  until 
a  certain  period  after  delivery,  no  woman  will  be  allowed  to 
work  for  wages.  Women  far  advanced  in  pregnancy,  during 
delivery,  and  throughout  the  lying-in  period,  will  be  cared 
for  almost  exclusively  in  institutions.  Such  institutions  will 
be  very  numerous,  if  only  for  the  reason  that  the  domestic 
care  of  childbirth  will  become  rarer  and  rarer,  that  the  insti- 
tutional care  of  such  women  is  far  better  and  cheaper  than 
any  other,  and  that  the  extension  of  institutional  care  is  a 
tendency  of  evolution. 


CHAPTER  II 

INFANT-LIFE   PROTECTION 

Introductory. — The  protection  of  infant  life  is  all  the  more 
necessary  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  is  during  infancy  that 
human  beings  are  least  able  to  withstand  injurious  external 
influences.     The  success  of  the   campaign   against   excessive 
child   mortality  depends  above  all  upon  the  success  of  our 
measures  for  infant-life  protection.     During  intra-uterine  life 
the  relationship  between  the  child  and  the  mother  is  of  such  a 
kind  that  the  legislator  must  protect  the  mother  if  he  wishes 
to  protect  the  child.     The  institutions  described  in  the  last 
chapter  relate  chiefly  to  the  mother,  and  it  is  indirectly  only 
that  they  redound  to  the  advantage  of  the  child.     After  birth 
the  relationship  between  the  child  and  its  mother  is  a  different 
one.     The  child  is  no  longer  a  part  of  the  mother's  body,  but 
is  obviously  and  unmistakably  a  separate  human  being,  although 
for  nine  or  ten  months  after  birth  (that  is  to  say,  for  a  period 
about  equal  in  duration  to  the  period  of  intra-uterine  life)  the 
child  remains  absolutely  dependent  on  the  mother.     It  is  char- 
acteristic of  all  the  mammalia  that  the  individual  young  should 
be  suckled  by  an  animal  of  its  own  species ;  for  the  milk  of 
every  species  contains  certain  substances  peculiarly  adapted  for 
the  needs  of  that  species,  so  that  suckling  by  a  mammal  of 
another  species   is  likely  to   exercise  an  injurious  influence. 
Man  is  also  one  of  the  mammalia,  and  in  the  case  of  human 
beings   suckling   by  any  other  mammal   is   almost   excluded 
from   possibility.      There   are   important   differences   between 
human    milk    and    the    milk    of   all  other    mammals.      For 
example,    human    milk    contains    certain    substances    which 
exercise  a  preventive  influence  against  certain  human  diseases, 
but   cow's   milk  contains  these  substances   in  much   smaller 
proportion,  or  not  at  all.     It  follows  from  this,  that  in  the 


126  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

nourishment  of  a  human  infant  we  cannot  without  danger 
replace  human  milk  by  the  milk  of  any  other  mammal — and 
cow's  milk  is  an  especially  dangerous  substitute  for  human 
milk.  For  this  reason,  numerous  methods  of  treating  cow's 
milk  are  employed  to  make  it  resemble  human  milk,  such  as 
dilution,  the  addition  of  sugar,  &c. 

Advantages  of  the,  Natural  Feeding  of  Infants. — The  natural 
method  of  nourishment — that  is  to  say,  suckling  at  the  maternal 
breast,  is  the  only  method  of  infant-feeding  which  properly 
complies  with  natural  requirements.  The  adoption  or  non- 
adoption  of  this  method  is  a  matter  of  decisive  influence  upon 
the  subsequent  health  of  the  child.  The  ideal  is  that  the  child 
should  be  suckled  until  it  is  nine  months  old.  But,  at  least, 
we  should  insist  upon  the  mother  giving  suck  for  the  first 
weeks  of  the  infant's  life,  two  months  being  regarded  as  an 
irreducible  minimum.  After  two  months,  the  dangers  of  arti- 
ficial feeding  are  considerably  less.  Within  certain  limits,  the 
longer  infants  are  suckled,  the  lower  are  their  disease-rate  and 
death-rate,  the  greater  is  their  power  of  resistance  to  disease, 
and  the  higher  is  their  mental  capacity.  When  we  compare 
the  results  of  natural  feeding  with  those  of  artificial  feeding 
of  infants,  we  cannot  fail  to  recognise  that  the  former  method 
gives  children  greater  powers  of  resistance  to  and  recovery 
from  those  diseases  which  are  inseparable  from  the  nutritive 
processes.  Artificial  feeding  frequently  leads  to  illness,  life- 
long debility,  premature  death,  &c.  In  children  suckled  by 
their  own  mothers,  digestive  disorders  are  usually  trifling ;  in 
children  suckled  by  a  wet-nurse,  such  disorders  are  more 
frequent  and  more  obstinate,  but  are  seldom  really  dangerous  ; 
in  artificially- fed  infants,  such  disorders  are  extraordinarily 
common,  their  course  is  extremely  serious,  and  a  fatal  issue  is 
far  from  rare. 

Statistical  data  prove  beyond  question  that  methods  of 
feeding  have  a  great  influence  upon  infant  mortality.  The 
death-rate  is  higher  in  proportion  to  the  degree  to  which  the 
mode  of  nutrition  diverges  from  the  natural  method  of  suckling 
by  the  child's  own  mother ;  the  death-rate  is  higher  in  children 
suckled  by  wet-nurses  than  in  those  suckled  by  their  own 
mothers:    it   is   much  his/her  in  children  fed  on  cow's  milk 


Infant-Life  Protection  127 

than  in  breast-fed  children.  Among  1000  children  dying 
during  the  first  year  of  life,  medical  returns  show  that  450 
succumb  to  digestive  disorders  and  marasmus.  Many  phy- 
sicians go  so  far  as  to  ascribe  70  per  cent,  to  80  per  cent,  of 
all  infantile  deaths  to  artificial  feeding.  A  statistical  error 
arises  in  this  way,  that  children  dying  immediately  after  birth, 
before  they  could  have  been  put  to  the  breast  at  all,  are  apt 
to  be  included  among  the  deaths  due  to  artificial  feeding, 
whereby,  of  course,  the  evil  effects  of  this  practice  are  over- 
estimated. Where  artificial  feeding  is  badly  carried  out,  the 
infantile  mortality  is  enormous.  The  children  that  escape 
death  tend  to  become  rachitic,  anaemic,  or  weakly,  and  later  in 
life  readily  succumb  to  tuberculosis. 

The  enormous  importance  of  natural  feeding,  and  the 
extent  of  the  difference  between  artificial  and  natural  feeding, 
are  manifested  by  the  following  examples  :  The  statistics  of 
child  mortality  invariably  show  that  in  those  European  coun- 
tries in  which  most  children  are  suckled  by  their  mothers, 
child  mortality  is  lowest.  In  Sweden  and  Norway,  where  even 
the  wealthiest  mothers  suckle  their  own  children,  mortality 
during  the  first  year  of  life  hardly  amounts  to  10  per  cent., 
whereas  in  other  European  countries  the  infantile  death-rate 
is  12  per  cent,  to  15  per  cent.,  or  even  more.  It  is  erroneously 
believed  that  there  is  a  law  in  Sweden  making  it  obligatory 
upon  mothers  to  suckle  their  children.  No  such  law  exists. 
During  the  siege  of  Paris,  in  the  years  1870—71,  the  infant 
mortality  in  that  city  fell  from  30  per  cent,  to  17  per  cent. 
The  reason  for  this  fall  was  that  the  Parisian  women  were 
forced  to  suckle  their  own  children,  for,  owing  to  the  siege, 
cow's  milk  was  unattainable,  and  the  usual  supply  of  wet- 
nurses  from  the  country  was  cut  off. 

Natural  feeding  is  not  only  better  than  artificial,  but  also 
cheaper.  Of  course,  in  considering  the  question  of  the  cost  of 
artificial  feeding,  the  method  employed  has  to  be  taken  into 
account.  For  example,  artificially-fed  infants  are  often  given 
much  more  milk  than  they  really  need.  But  artificial  feeding 
is  artificial,  and  whereas  instinct  prescribes  the  methods  of 
natural  feeding,  it  gives  no  guidance  in  the  matter  of  artificial 
feeding.     The  changes  occurring  in  the  female  breast  in  conse- 


128  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

quence  of  pregnancy  and  childbirth  draw  a  woman's  attention 
to  the  fact  that  she  has  certain  maternal  duties  to  fulfil.  The 
neglect  of  nature's  commands  commonly  entails  disorders  to 
health.  It  remains  uncertain  whether  disease  germs  can  be 
transmitted  to  the  infant  through  its  mother's  milk.  It  is 
still  more  questionable  whether,  in  the  act  of  suckling,  vitally 
important  maternal  qualities  can  be  transmitted  from  mother 
to  child.  There  is  some  doubt  whether  the  continuance  of 
lactation  is  a  fairly  sure  preventive  of  the  occurrence  of  a  fresh 
pregnancy.  If  this  question  can  definitely  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  for  a  mother  to  suckle 
her  infant  gives  an  increased  chance  of  life  not  to  that  infant 
only,  but  to  the  other  children  in  the  family,  because  thereby 
these  children  are  relieved  of  the  dangers  entailed  by  too  large 
a  family. 

History  of  Artificial  Feeding. — It  is  uncertain  during  what  re- 
spective periods  of  human  history  the  practice  of  rearing  infants 
by  means  of  wet-nurses,  and  the  practice  of  rearing  them  by  arti- 
ficial feeding,  first  made  their  appearance.  To-day,  certainly, 
both  these  methods  of  rearing  infants  prevail  very  widely — far 
more  widely  than  at  any  former  time.  No  official  statistics 
exist  showing  the  proportion  of  all  infants  born  alive  that  are 
suckled  by  the  mother,  suckled  by  wet-nurses,  and  artificially 
fed,  respectively.  According  to  some  private  investigators,  in 
large  towns  less  than  half  of  all  infants  are  suckled  by  their 
own  mothers,  and  in  France  the  proportion  of  those  which  are 
otherwise  nourished  is  said  to  range  from  60  per  cent,  to  70 
per  cent.  Certainly,  the  conditions  with  regard  to  this  matter 
are  worse  in  France  than  they  are  elsewhere. 

Many  physicians  believe  that  the  constitutional  incapacity 
of  women  to  suckle  their  children  is  increasing.  They  point 
out  that  an  unused  organ  tends  to  atrophy ;  and  they  con- 
sider, not  merely  that  the  incapacity  to  suckle  is  transmitted 
by  inheritance,  but  that  when  so  transmitted,  the  incapacity 
persists  throughout  all  subsequent  generations.  But  this 
view,  whose  soundness  would  deprive  us  of  our  most  effective 
weapon  in  our  campaign  against  excessive  infant  mortality, 
is  erroneous.  The  recent  investigations  of  various  medical 
practitioners  especially  interested  in  the  diseases  of  children 


Infant- Life  Protection  129 

have  shown  that  (even  in  districts  in  which  for  generations 
mothers  have  almost  completely  abandoned  the  practice  of 
suckling  their  children),  when  properly  advised,  90  per  cent, 
of  all  women  proved  capable  of  suckling,  if  not  for  the  full 
nine  months,  at  any  rate  for  a  considerable  period,  before 
it  was  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  cow's  milk.  There  are 
doubtless  women  who  are  really  unable  to  suckle  their  chil- 
dren ;  and  there  are  others  who  could  do  so,  but  in  whom  suck- 
ling is  contra-indicated,  either  in  their  own  interest  or  in  that 
of  the  child.  For  example,  a  woman  who  is  pregnant  cannot 
give  suck,  for  the  human  organism  is  not  adapted  to  bear 
the  common  strain  of  pregnancy  and  of  lactation.  In  the 
interest  of  the  child  that  is  being  suckled,  it  is  necessary  that 
weaning  should  be  effected  directly  a  new  pregnancy  begins. 
Women  suffering  from  chronic  alcoholism  and  those  addicted 
to  morphine  should  not  suckle  their  children,  for  the  reason 
that  a  comparatively  large  quantity  of  the  alcohol  ingested, 
or  of  the  morphine,  as  the  case  may  be,  is  excreted  in  the 
milk.  A  child  suffering  from  an  infective  disease,  such  as 
syphilis  or  tuberculosis,  should  be  artificially  fed,  owing  to 
the  danger  of  infection. 

Causes  of  the  Failure  to  Suckle. — The  reasons  for  a  mother's 
failure  to  suckle  her  infant  may  be  classified  under  two  main 
heads  :  she  will  not,  or  she  cannot.  Unwillingness  plays  a 
great  part  among  the  upper  classes  of  society.  Dread  of 
inconvenience,  laziness,  fear  of  the  loss  of  physical  charms, 
social  duties  and  pleasures  to  which  such  women  devote  a 
great  deal  of  time,  and  which  they  are  unwilling  to  renounce 
— such  are  the  considerations  operative  in  these  cases.  In- 
ability to  suckle  is  a  more  frequent  cause  among  women  of 
the  proletariat.  In  consequence  of  their  poverty,  such  women 
are  often  forced  to  work  away  from  home  the  whole  day  long. 
It  is  not  yet  definitely  ascertained  whether  constitutional 
inability  to  suckle  is  commoner  among  proletarian  women 
than  among  women  of  other  classes.  It  is  a  greater  evil  for 
a  proletarian  mother  to  fail  to  suckle  her  infant  than  it  is 
for  a  mother  of  the  upper  classes  similarly  to  fail.  The  pro- 
letarian mother  cannot  afford  to  pay  a  wet-nurse,  and  the 
child  must  therefore   be  artificially  fed.     In  this  event,  the 

I 


130  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

proletarian  mother  is  likely  to  feed  her  child  less  well  than 
an  upper-class  mother  who  also  adopts  artificial  methods  of 
feeding,  for  the  former  is  too  poor  to  obtain  the  best  milk, 
and  she  lacks  time  to  prepare  the  milk  properly,  and  to  give 
it  to  her  child  in  suitably  small  quantities  and  at  suitably 
short  intervals. 

The  idea  that  a  smaller  proportion  of  mothers  of  the  poorer 
classes  suckle  their  children  than  among  the  well-to-do  is 
erroneous.  But  it  is  a  fact  that  of  those  children  who  are 
not  suckled  by  their  own  mothers,  among  the  upper  classes 
a  much  larger  proportion  are  suckled  by  wet-nurses  than 
among  the  lower  classes  ;  it  is  also  the  case  that  when  chil- 
dren of  the  upper  classes  are  not  suckled  by  their  own  mothers, 
they  commonly  have  wet-nurses  in  their  own  homes,  and  are 
not  entrusted  to  the  care  of  foster-parents ;  and  finally,  when 
we  come  to  hand-fed  children,  among  the  upper  classes  a 
greater  proportion  of  these  are  comparatively  well  fed  than 
among  the  lower.  A  smaller  percentage  of  illegitimate  than 
of  legitimate  children  are  suckled  by  their  own  mothers;  a 
larger  percentage  of  the  illegitimate  than  of  the  legitimate 
are  artificially  fed.  The  unmarried  mother  is  in  most  cases 
poor,  the  birth  of  the  child  makes  her  poverty  extreme,  and 
by  no  means  always  does  she  receive  a  maintenance  allowance 
from  her  child's  father.  To  be  able  to  live,  she  must  either 
act  as  wet-nurse  to  another  woman's  child,  or  must  go  out  to 
work. 

Wet-Nurses. — Poverty  not  only  makes  it  impossible  for 
many  women  to  suckle  their  own  infants,  but  forces  them 
to  suckle  the  child  of  another.  The  great  majorit}'^  of  wet- 
nurses  are  recruited  from  the  ranks  of  the  proletariat,  and, 
indeed,  for  the  most  part,  belong  to  the  class  of  unmarried 
mothers.  Married  women  are  less  inclined  to  sacrifice  their 
own  child  for  the  good  of  the  child  of  another  woman.  The 
readiness  of  many  mothers  to  renounce  the  duty  of  suckling 
their  children  is  perhaps  referable  to  the  fact  that  wet-nurses 
may  be  procured  so  easily  and  at  such  small  cost.  Thus 
poverty  is  also  an  indirect  cause  of  the  fact  that  many  upper- 
class  mothers  fail  to  suckle  their  children.  The  children 
of  wet-nurses  are  either  fed  artificially,  or  suckled  by  another 


Infant- Life  Protection  131 

woman.  The  sad  position  of  such  children,  and  their  enor- 
mous death-rate  during  the  first  years  of  life,  are  only  too 
well  known.  When  a  woman  takes  employment  as  a  wet- 
nurse,  two  children  suffer — («)  the  child  she  suckles,  and 
(5)  her  own  child,  which  would  otherwise,  in  all  probability, 
be  suckled  by  its  own  mother.  In  favour  of  the  traffic  in 
wet-nurses,  it  is  frequently  maintained  that  the  children  of 
wet-nurses,  owing  to  the  good  wages  earned  by  their  mothers, 
are  well  cared  for,  whereas  otherwise  they  would  be  badly 
cared  for.  The  sophistical  character  of  this  argument  is 
sufficiently  obvious. 

If  a  child  is  not  suckled  by  its  own  mother,  it  is  either 
suckled  by  another  woman,  or  else  artificially  fed ;  and  the 
child  may  either  remain  in  its  maternal  home,  or  it  may 
be  sent  to  be  reared  elsewhere.  If  the  infant  is  sent  else- 
where, either  its  relatives  or  some  benevolent  society  may 
arrange  for  its  care.  Wet-nurses  are  thus  resident  or  non- 
resident. In  foundling  hospitals,  those  wet-nurses  who  give 
suck  to  children  in  the  institution  are  known  as  resident 
wet-nurses.  From  the  standpoint  of  civil  law,  resident  wet- 
nurses  have  entered  into  a  contract  of  service  with  their 
employer,  and  the  latter  undertakes  to  provide  in  return 
for  their  services  a  stipulated  remuneration.  A  non-resident 
wet-nurse,  on  the  other  hand,  undertakes  to  provide  in  a 
certain  manner  for  the  infant  boarded  with  her.  It  is 
obviously  preferable  that  an  individual  child  should  be  suckled 
by  a  resident  wet-nurse,  since  in  such  conditions  the  wet-nurse 
can  be  supervised  much  more  strictly  than  when  she  receives 
the  infant  in  her  own  home.  But  in  the  case  of  children 
in  a  foundling  hospital,  it  is  preferable  that  they  should  be 
boarded  out  with  non-resident  wet-nurses,  for  in  the  present 
condition  of  medical  science,  the  institutional  care  of  infants 
is  a  very  difficult  matter  to  carry  out  with  success. 

But  the  choice  of  a  wet-nurse  involves  other  considera- 
tions in  addition  to  those  just  stated.  A  woman  can  safely 
be  employed  in  this  capacity  only  if  her  own  confinement  has 
taken  place  some  little  time  before.  By  suckling  the  child  of 
another  the  wet-nurse  deprives  her  own  child  of  its  natural 
nourishment.      The  wet-nurse   may   be   suffering   from   some 


132  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

infective  disorder,  and  may  transmit  this  disorder  to  her 
nursling.  Conversely,  the  nursling  may  be  suffering  from 
congenital  syphilis,  or  from  tuberculosis,  and  may  infect  the 
nurse.  It  is  very  difficult  in  infants-in-arms  to  recognise 
syphilis  with  certainty.  For  these  reasons  it  is  only  to  healthy 
wet-nurses,  for  whose  own  children  a  proper  provision  can  be 
made  (for  instance,  when  the  wet-nurse's  child  has  already 
been  suckled  for  six  months,  or  when  it  has  died),  that  the 
local  authorities  give  permission  to  suckle  the  child  of  a 
stranger.  This  applies  both  to  resident  and  to  non-resident 
nurses.  In  the  case  of  the  latter,  in  view  of  the  fact  already 
mentioned,  that  they  cannot  be  properly  supervised  by  the 
child's  relatives,  supervision  by  the  local  authority  is  indis- 
pensable. There  are  no  physiological  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
suckling  two  infants,  either  simultaneously  or  successively. 
The  latter  procedure  is,  however,  to  be  preferred.  In  all 
civilised  countries  baby-farming  has  been  subjected  to  legal 
regulations.  Although  these  regulations  vary  greatly  in  dif- 
ferent countries,  they  relate  not  only  to  infants,  but  also  to 
older  children.  The  age  at  which  supervision  of  such  children 
ceases  is  a  very  variable  one.  As  an  example  may  be  men- 
tioned the  French  law  of  the  year  1874.  This  law  deals  with 
children  boarded  out  by  foundling  hospitals,  but  only  to  those 
under  two  years  of  age  received  for  a  money  payment.  It  is 
becoming  obvious  to-day  to  most  persons  that  children  boarded 
out  by  their  relatives  require  official  supervision,  even  if  the 
children  are  received  gratuitously. 

Cows  Milk. — Pure  cow's  milk  is  the  best  substitute  for  the 
maternal  milk.  Where  milk  is  to  be  used  for  infant-feeding, 
it  should  be  drawn  in  a  properly-kept  cowshed,  it  should 
be  cooled,  placed  for  delivery  in  vessels  of  a  suitable  size  for 
an  individual  infant's  meal,  diluted  or  otherwise  prepared  as 
demanded  by  the  age  and  special  necessities  of  the  case,  and 
used  as  soon  as  possible.  To-day  the  price  of  cow's  milk 
suitable  for  infant-feeding  is  so  high  that  the  lower  classes 
find  it  almost  impossible  to  obtain  it.  It  is  a  matter  of  very 
great  importance  that  good  milk  should  be  rendered  available 
for  the  lower  classes  at  a  low  price.  Recently  much  attention 
has  been  paid  to  the  improvement  of  the  technique  of  milking, 


Infant- Life  Protection  133 

of  the  transport  of  milk,  and  of  the  care  of  milk  when 
delivered.  The  local  authorities  supervise  the  production 
and  transport  of  milk  as  a  part  of  their  public-health  ad- 
ministration. Improvements  in  cattle-breeding,  a  thorough 
organisation  of  the  cowsheds  and  dairies  and  of  the  methods 
of  milking,  and  an  organisation  of  the  entire  dairy  business 
have  effected  much  improvement.  Both  private  associations 
and  the  local  authorities  begin  to  lay  stress  on  the  supply  of 
milk  for  infants,  especially  in  towns,  in  which  the  provision 
of  good  milk  is  even  more  important  than  it  is  in  country 
districts.  We  must  leave  the  question  open  whether  infants 
can  be  infected  by  the  milk  of  cows  suffering  from  Pcrlsuclit  or 
bovine  tuberculosis ;  it  certainly  cannot  be  a  matter  of  indif- 
ference whether  the  milk  contains  tubercle  bacilli.  At  the 
present  time,  unfortunately,  in  the  anything  but  hygienic 
dairies  of  our  country  districts,  many  of  the  cows  are  suffering 
from  Ferlsucht. 

In  many  countries,  especially  France,  Germany,  and 
England,  Infant's  Milk  Depots  (Gouttes  de  Lait)  have  been 
founded,  at  which  the  poor  can  obtain  infant's  milk  gratui- 
tously or  very  cheaply.  The  deficit  is  made  up  by  individual 
contributions,  by  public  grants-in-aid,  or  by  the  profit  on  milk 
sold  to  the  well-to-do.  Of  late  years  a  few  English  munici- 
palities have  begun  to  administer  such  Infant's  Milk  Depots 
themselves.  Such  Infant's  Milk  Depots  appear  to  do  more 
harm  than  good.  By  providing  milk  gratuitously  or  very 
cheaply  they  give  a  premium  to  those  mothers  who  feed  their 
children  artificially,  and  this  leads  many  who  would  otherwise 
suckle  their  children  to  bring  them  up  by  hand.  Vainly  in 
France  are  prizes  ofiered  to  mothers,  and  especially  to  unmarried 
mothers,  to  induce  them  to  suckle  their  own  children,  when 
simultaneously  institutions  are  founded  to  reward  mothers 
who  bring  up  their  children  by  hand.  Infant's  Milk  Depots 
must  be  under  continuous  medical  supervision,  such  super- 
vision to  include  the  mothers  and  children  attending  the 
depot,  since  in  default  of  this  there  is  no  guarantee  that  the 
mothers  would  use  the  milk  properly  in  the  nourishment  of 
their  infants.  Of  late  it  has  been  found  necessary,  especially 
in  France,  to  associate  with  the  administration  of  the  Infant's 


134  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

Milk  Depots  the  continuous  medical  supervision  of  the  infants, 
medical  advice  to  the  mothers,  control  of  the  use  of  the  milk, 
and  advice  to  the  mothers  to  suckle  their  own  children.  The 
French  Infant's  Milk  Depots  are  now  associated  with  the 
giving  of  advice  to  mothers  {consultation  de  nourrissons),  so 
that  the  mothers  can  be  properly  instructed  regarding  all 
matters  bearing  on  infant-feeding.  Several  times  a  week 
mothers'  classes  are  held,  at  which  all  possible  stress  is  laid 
on  the  need  for  women  to  suckle  their  own  children,  this 
theoretical  advice  being  re-enforced  by  the  giving  of  prizes. 
If  natural  feeding  is  rejected  or  is  impossible,  advice  is  given 
as  to  suitable  artificial  feeding.  Domiciliary  visits  are  made 
to  see  that  this  advice  is  properly  followed.  Thus  the  Infant's 
Milk  Depots  tend  more  and  more  to  develop  into  centres  for 
the  general  care  of  infancy ;  their  original  aim  will  pass  more 
and  more  into  the  background  as  advice  to  mothers  becomes 
associated  with  children's  clinics  (such  as  we  find  already  in 
many  university  towns),  or  with  hospitals  for  infants,  schools 
for  midwives,  and  lying-in  hospitals.  Such  a  development 
may  be  expected  in  the  near  future. 

Infant's  Milk  Depots,  advice  to  mothers,  and  all  the 
institutions  and  measures  forming  part  of  the  campaign  to 
lower  infant  mortality,  must  invariably  have  the  general  aim 
of  promoting  the  public  welfare,  and  must  never  assume  the 
form  of  Poor-Relief,  otherwise  many  who  need  their  services 
will  fail  to  avail  themselves  of  these,  for,  as  is  well  known, 
a  great  many  people  are  frightened  away  from  any  institution 
connected  with  the  system  of  Poor-Relief.  It  is  sufficiently 
proved  that  those  Infant's  Milk  Depots  in  which  the  milk  is 
given  in  accordance  with  individual  medical  prescriptions, 
which  are  subjected  to  medical  supervision,  which  are  asso- 
ciated with  the  giving  of  advice  to  mothers,  which  give  milk 
free  or  at  a  low  price  only  to  those  whose  infants  are  kept 
under  regular  observation,  promote  breast-feeding  by  the 
mothers,  and  effect  a  notable  diminution  in  infant  mortality. 

Otker  Methods  of  Artificial  Feeding, — Nothing  more  need 
be  said  here  of  the  other  methods  of  artificial  feeding — that 
is,  of  those  in  which  no  cow's  milk  is  used — beyond  this,  that 
they  are  in  opposition  to  the  essential  principles  of  hygiene. 


Infant- Life  Protection  135 

and  that  they  are  of  less  than  no  value.  Everyone  who  has 
the  mterest  of  society  at  heart  should  do  all  in  his  power  to 
secure  the  complete  discontinuance  of  such  methods. 

Institutional  Care  of  Infants. — The  mstitutional  care  of 
infants,  if  it  is  to  be  carried  out  in  accordance  with  hygienic 
principles,  is  too  costly.  Hence  it  is  applicable  only  in  the 
case  of  weakly  and  sickly  infants,  and  is  out  of  the  question 
for  the  permanent  care  of  healthy  infants.  With  regard  to 
the  institutional  care  of  healthy  infants,  it  is  asserted  that, 
even  in  the  most  modern  and  best -managed  foundling  hospi- 
tals and  hospitals  for  infants,  epidemic  diseases — such  as  pneu- 
monia, contagious  ophthalmia,  and  intestinal  catarrh — inevitably 
appear,  and  in  such  circumstances  are  extremely  difficult  to 
treat  with  success.  It  is,  however,  necessary  to  consider  the 
following  facts.  Unquestionably,  the  institutional  care  of  infants 
was  formerly  far  from  satisfactory.  Certain  diseases,  the  seeds 
of  which  have  been  sown  in  the  institution,  only  develop  in 
full  severity  after  the  child  has  been  boarded  out.  This  de- 
pends upon :  (a)  the  primary  lack  of  resisting  power  of  the 
infants,  which  is  the  disastrous  sequel  of  the  unfavourable 
conditions  of  life  to  which  they  were  exposed  before  entering 
the  institution ;  (6)  the  lack  of  proper  individualisation  (for 
example,  the  continuous  lying  in  bed,  bad  air,  lack  of  suffi- 
cient cleanliness) — the  so-called  "  hospitalism  "  or  "  hospital- 
marasmus  "  is  referable  to  these  influences ;  (c)  a  failure  to 
meet  the  demands  of  hospital  hygiene,  so  that  the  origina- 
tion and  the  development  of  the  infectious  diseases  are  facili- 
tated ;  (c?)  artificial  feeding,  by  which  the  working  of  these 
evil  influences  is  powerfully  reinforced.  But  all  these  errors 
are  avoidable.  Nothing  more  is  requisite  for  their  avoidance 
than  strict  observance  of  the  rules  of  modern  hospital  hygiene, 
with  individualisation  in  all  departments,  and  especially  in  the 
matter  of  diet,  which  should  whenever  possible  be  carried 
out  through  the  instrumentality  of  wet-nurses.  Since  wet- 
nurses  of  the  best  quality  are  difficult  to  obtain  in  sufficient 
numbers,  it  is  best  that  the  hospital  for  infants  should  be 
associated  with  a  lying-in  hospital. 

The.  Crtche. — In  the  families  of  the  poor,  the  elder 
children  have  in  most  cases  to  work  for  their  living,  so  that 


136  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

even  these  are  not  continuously  available  for  the  care  of  the 
younger  children.  This  applies  especially  to  those  families 
whose  members  work  away  from  home,  and  in  places  to  which 
the  younger  children  cannot  be  taken.  When  a  peasant  with 
his  wife  and  his  elder  children  works  in  the  fields,  it  is  possible 
to  take  even  quite  little  children  to  the  place  of  work  and  to 
keep  an  eye  on  them  there ;  but  when  a  workman  with  his 
wife  and  his  elder  children  works  in  a  shop,  a  factory,  or  a 
workshop,  to  take  the  younger  children  there  is  impossible. 
But  young  children  must  on  no  account  be  left  without  super- 
vision, for  this  exposes  them  to  all  kinds  of  dangers — to  burns 
and  scalds,  falling  out  of  window,  &c.  Moreover,  an  infant- 
in-arms  cannot  be  entrusted  to  the  care  of  the  older  children, 
if  only  for  the  reason  that  this  is  injurious  to  the  latter  alike 
in  body  and  in  mind.  They  have,  for  example,  to  drag  the 
baby  about  with  them  wherever  they  go,  are  kept  away  from 
school,  &c.  To  board  out  an  infant  is,  in  the  first  place, 
costly,  and,  in  the  second  place,  separates  the  infant  com- 
pletely from  its  parents.  In  many  cases  it  is  only  by  the 
fact  that  she  keeps  her  child  with  her,  and  becomes  attached 
to  it,  that  an  unmarried  mother  is  restrained  from  adopting 
an  immoral  life.  Thus  there  is  need  of  a  place  to  which  the 
children  may  be  sent,  either  permanently  or  only  during  the 
hours  in  which  the  family  are  at  work.  Institutions  for  this 
purpose  actually  came  into  existence  only  as  a  sequel  of  the 
development  of  the  factory  system.  They  are  known  as 
creches,  and  provide  for  the  care,  not  of  infants  merely,  but 
of  children  up  to  the  age  of  three.  The  need  for  and  value 
of  such  institutions  is  obvious.  It  is  a  real  service  to  parents 
of  the  poorer  classes,  if  not  far  from  their  dwelling  or  from 
their  place  of  work  there  exists  an  institution  at  which,  either 
gratuitously  or  for  a  nominal  payment,  their  little  children 
can  be  properly  cared  for.  Early  in  the  day  the  mother 
takes  her  infant  to  the  creche,  during  the  midday  pause 
goes  there  if  necessary  to  suckle  the  child,  and  fetches  it 
home  in  the  evening. 

Illegitimate  children  are  in  many  places  refused  admis- 
sion to  the  creches.  This  refusal  merits  our  strongest  dis- 
approval.    The  reasons   alleged   for  this   course   are    of   two 


Infant- Life  Protection  137 

different  kinds.  First,  we  are  told  that  we  must  not  en- 
courage girls  to  be  immoral ;  secondly,  it  is  said  that  married 
mothers  will  hesitate  to  entrust  their  children  to  a  creche 
which  also  receives  illegitimate  children.  The  injustice  of 
this  practice  is  more  and  more  generally  understood,  and 
the  better  course  more  commonly  prevails.  Of  course,  only 
such  illegitimate  children  should  be  received  at  a  creche  as 
are  cared  for  by  their  own  mothers  during  the  hours  of  the 
day  when  they  are  not  at  the  institution.  Illegitimate  chil- 
dren boarded  out  with  foster-parents  should  not  be  admitted 
to  a  creche,  because  foster-parents  who  send  to  a  creche  the 
child  entrusted  to  their  care  are  not  properly  fulfilling  the 
duty  they  have  undertaken,  and  those  who  cannot  look 
after,  the  foster-child  themselves  should  not  receive  one 
at  all. 

In  most  countries  creches  are  founded  and  maintained 
by  private  benevolence,  and  are  merely  supervised  by  the 
State.  Only  in  a  few  countries — Hungary,  for  instance — 
has  the  State  imposed  upon  the  local  authorities  the  duty 
of  founding  and  maintaining  such  institutions;  and  the 
central  authority  has  itself  founded  and  maintained  such 
institutions,  and  in  these  the  matrons  of  the  Public  Homes 
for  Children  {Kinderhewahranstalten)  receive  their  training. 

To-day  various  defects  exist  in  these  creches.  Not  in- 
frequently the  attendants  lack  the  necessary  experience  in 
the  care  of  children,  medical  supervision  is  often  inadequate, 
the  building  is  unsuitable,  the  infants  are  artificially  fed,  the 
creche  is  often  too  far  from  factory,  workshop,  or  home,  so 
that  artificial  feeding  or  feeding  by  a  wet-nurse  is  encouraged. 
Before  long  creches  will  become  national  institutions.  They 
will  become  more  numerous ;  they  will  be  used  more  readily  ; 
their  faults  will  be  corrected. 

Particular  mention  must  be  made  of  factory  creches  and 
family  creches.  (a)  Many  factory  owners  construct  creches 
and  feeding-rooms  for  the  infants  of  women  working  in  their 
factories,  and  arrange  for  such  women  to  leave  work  at  in- 
tervals to  suckle  their  children.  The  employers  do  this,  not 
so  much  from  the  goodness  of  their  hearts,  as  with  an  eye 
to  their  own  well-considered  interest.     The  working  time  they 


138  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

lose  amounts  to  very  little,  and  they  hope  that  their  bene- 
volent actions  will  secure  the  goodwill,  and  consequently  the 
hearty  co-operation,  of  their  workpeople.  (6)  A  recent  develop- 
ment is  the  family  creche.  Adequate  maintenance  and  free 
house-room  are  guaranteed  to  a  widow,  in  return  for  her  un- 
dertaking to  care  during  the  day  for  a  restricted  number 
of  infants  (and  in  some  cases,  also,  children  of  school  age). 
Family  creches  share  to  some  extent  the  advantages  of  the 
family  care  of  infants.  Their  great  and  obvious  advantage 
lies  in  the  fact  that  they  facilitate  decentralisation — that  is, 
the  creche  can  be  nearer  to  the  homes  of  the  infants'  parents. 
Their  main  defect  lies  in  their  failure,  as  a  rule,  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  modern  hygiene;  a  second  disadvantage  is 
that  systematic  occupation  for  the  older  children  is  usually 
difficult  to  arrange  in  the  family  creche.  For  these  reasons 
it  is  unlikely  that  they  will  ever  become  very  general. 

Proposed  Beforms.  —  Proper  training  and  discipline  are 
requisite,  not  only  for  midwives,  but  also  for  medical  practi- 
tioners. Proper  training  of  mothers  is  also  necessary.  Most 
young  mothers  seek  advice  above  all  from  midwives,  and  these 
latter  often  advise  very  badly.  In  the  first  place,  there  are 
many  matters  connected  with  the  care  of  infancy  about  which 
midwives  have  no  expert  knowledge.  Secondly,  midwives 
often  advise  mothers  not  to  suckle  their  children,  but  to  bring 
them  up  by  hand,  because  the  case  is  sooner  done  with  and 
the  midwife  has  less  to  do  when  the  mother  does  not  suckle. 

In  many  German  towns,  a  number  of  the  institutions  for 
the  care  of  infants,  and  also  the  offices  for  the  registration 
of  births,  distribute  printed  instructions  regarding  the  care 
of  infants,  with  especial  reference  to  the  matter  of  infant- 
feeding.  The  principle  of  these  attempts  is  sound,  but  un- 
fortunately many  such  leaflets  are  rather  long-winded,  and 
consequently  remain  unread. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  every  woman  entering  upon 
marriage  should  have  to  display  a  knowledge  of  the  elements 
of  the  hygiene  of  infant  life,  and  more  especially  of  the 
principles  of  infant- feeding ;  or  else  that  the  duty  should  be 
imposed  upon  women  of  acquiring  the  requisite  knowledge 
within  six  months  after  marriage — by  attendance  at  one  of 


Infant' Life  Protection  139 

a  number  of  schools  to  be  founded  with  this  end  in  view. 
The  idea  of  this  proposal  is  sound,  but  it  is  one  which  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  put  into  practice  precisely  in  the  form  here 
stated. 

Radkal  Solution  of  the  Problem. — It  is  one  ot  the  most 
important  aims  of  child-protection  that  during  the  first  year 
of  life  the  infant  should  be  nourished  at  the  maternal  breast. 
Every  possible  effort  must  be  made  to  secure  that  the  infant 
should  not  be  separated  from  its  mother;  and  if  separation 
from  the  mother  is  unavoidable,  that  the  child  should  not  be 
hand-fed,  but  suckled  by  a  wet-nurse.  Finally,  when  artificial 
feeding  of  the  infant  is  inevitable,  it  is  the  aim  of  child- 
protection  to  secure  that  the  technique  of  this  feeding  should 
be  the  best  possible. 

Two  of  the  institutions  of  modern  civil  law  are  of  such 
a  nature  as  to  favour  wet-nursing  and  hand-feeding,  and  to 
hinder  the  attainment  of  the  primary  aims  of  child-protection. 
The  first  of  these  is  that,  within  limits,  the  parents  are  free  to 
determine  how  their  child  shall  be  brought  up ;  so  that,  for 
instance,  the  mother  is  free  to  entrust  her  child  to  a  wet-nurse, 
or  even  to  have  it  brought  up  by  hand.  Hence  the  reform 
of  these  matters  must  begin  with  legislation  securing  that 
the  legal  position  of  legitimate  and  of  illegitimate  children 
shall  be  identical ;  and,  secondly,  imposing  it  upon  all  mothers 
as  a  legal  obligation  to  suckle  their  own  children  when  they 
are  physically  competent  to  do  so. 

The  last-named  measure  is  by  some  considered  too  radical,  on 
the  ground  that  its  enforcement  would  infringe  the  sacred  prin- 
ciple of  the  freedom  of  contract,  and  would  violate  the  sanctity 
of  family  life.  But  these  are  merely  empty  phrases ;  and  such 
considerations  cannot  for  a  moment  counterbalance  the  urgent 
need  for  the  proper  protection  of  infant  life.  Even  to-day,  it  is 
an  accepted  legal  principle  that  in  the  case  of  contracts  involving 
the  personal  service  of  the  contracting  parties  within  the  limits 
of  family  life,  the  contract  cannot  be  fulfilled  by  proxy.  Thus, 
in  the  matter  of  the  nourishment  of  an  infant  during  the  first 
months  of  life — that  is  to  say,  in  respect  of  the  performance 
of  an  act  which  is  merely  the  continuation  and  the  sequel  of 
the  physiological  state  brought  into  being  by  sexual  intercourse 


I40  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

and;by  pregnancy,  the  demand  that  no  substitution  be  allowed, 
that  lactation  by  proxy  be  prohibited,  is  a  logical  application 
of  existing  and  accepted  legal  principles.  In  the  sphere  of 
family  life,  the  principle  of  the  freedom  of  contract  finds  even 
to-day  no  more  than  a  restricted  application ;  and  with  the 
disappearance  of  the  economic  order  based  upon  free  com- 
petition, the  principle  of  the  freedom  of  contract  is  destined 
altogether  to  disappear.  Beyond  question,  the  suggested  reform 
would  involve  a  very  serious  limitation  of  personal  liberty. 
But  the  limitation  would  be  no  greater  than  those  that  are 
imposed  in  most  modern  States  by  various  ordinances  affecting 
the  right  of  the  individual  to  the  free  disposal  of  his  own 
body — for  instance,  compulsory  military  service,  compulsory 
vaccination,  and  compulsory  removal  to  a  hospital  for  in- 
fectious diseases.  The  proposed  reform  would  knit  closer  the 
bonds  between  mother  and  child,  and  it  would  curtail  the 
love  of  personal  luxury  and  the  pleasure-seeking  of  the  women 
of  the  well-to-do  classes.  The  legal  measure  here  suggested 
was  known  to  the  old  Prussian  law,  and  to  this  law  alone. 
It  does  not  appear  in  any  legal  code  of  to-day.  The  two 
reasons  that  prevent  its  immediate  adoption  by  any  modern 
State  are  these :  in  the  first  place,  it  would  affect  the  women 
of  the  upper  classes  much  more  than  those  of  the  lower,  and 
would  expose  the  former  in  especial  to  punishment;  in  the 
second  place,  a  necessary  corollary  of  any  such  law  would  be 
the  provision  for  women  of  the  lower  classes'^ of  a  suitable 
allowance  for  maintenance  during  the  period  of  lactation. 


f : 

CHAPTER   III 

THE   CARE   OF   FOUNDLINGS,   WET-NURSING,   AND 
BABY-FARMING 

Terminology. — In  this  work,  when  we  speak  of  "  the  care  of 
foundlings,"  the  term  is  used  throughout  in  the  ^videst  signifi- 
cation, to  denote  the  general  care  of  the  children  boarded  out, 
or  otherwise  placed  in  external  care  by  the  Poor  Law  Boards 
or  other  administrative  instruments  of  poor-relief.  Thus  we 
do  not  refer  to  the  care  of  all  abandoned  children,  nor  even 
to  the  care  of  all  foundlings,  but  merely  to  the  care  of 
children  permanently  and  completely  abandoned  by  their 
relatives.  It  is  necessary  to  lay  this  great  stress  upon  the 
accurate  definition  of  the  term,  for  the  reason  that  in  Ger- 
many and  in  England  the  systems  by  which  the  community 
undertakes  the  care  of  foundlings  is  fiercely  attacked ;  but  the 
opponents  of  the  institution  are  attacking  something  very 
different  from  what  many  of  them  imagine.  To-day  the  care 
of  abandoned  children,  and  institutions  for  the  care  of  these 
children,  are  altogether  different  from  the  foundling  hospitals 
of  former  times ;  abandoned  children  are  cared  for  by  the 
community,  not  only  in  countries  in  which  foundling  hospitals 
exist,  but  also  in  Germany  and  England,  for  in  these  latter 
countries,  the  so-called  Germanic  system  for  the  care  of 
abandoned  children,  though  there  not  spoken  of  as  "  care 
for  foundlings,"  amounts  to  the  same  thing. 

History  of  the  Care  of  Foundlings. — For  two  reasons  it  is 
necessary  that  we  should  deal  with  the  history  of  the  care  of 
foundlings.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  a  branch  of  child-protection 
which  is  rightly  considered  to  be  of  great  importance,  and  yet  in 
regard  to  this  branch  the  most  erroneous  views  prevail  alike 
among  laymen  and  non-laymen.  In  the  second  place,  the 
care  of  foundlings  to-day  cannot  possibly  be  understood  by 


142  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

those  who  know  nothing  of  the  history  of  the  institution. 
Even  during  the  time  at  which  infanticide  and  the  exposing  of 
children  were  still  legally  permissible  among  the  Romans,  these 
practices  were  condemned  by  public  opinion,  especially  when 
the  excuse  of  great  poverty  was  lacking,  and  they  were 
regarded  as  a  misuse  of  parental  authority.  This  applies 
even  more  to  infanticide  than  to  the  exposing  of  children ;  for 
in  the  case  of  the  latter,  it  was  always  possible  that  the  child 
would  be  rescued  and  brought  up  by  a  third  person.  The 
Church  naturally  regarded  both  infanticide  and  the  exposing 
of  children  as  immoral  and  sinful.  But  what  could  the 
Church  do  to  prevent  infanticide  ?  Infanticide  was  largely  a 
result  of  the  fact  that  the  Church  and  public  opinion  strongly 
condemned  illegitimate  sexual  relationships;  in  actual  fact, 
infanticide  was  usually  the  act  of  an  unmarried  mother.  The 
only  course  open  to  the  Church,  if  it  wished  to  prevent 
infanticide,  was  to  tolerate  the  exposure  of  children,  and  to 
take  steps  to  ensure  that  the  children  thus  exposed  should 
not  perish.  The  Church  permitted  the  lesser  evil  in  order  to 
prevent  the  greater.  According  to  some  authorities,  the 
priests  even  publicly  exhorted  fallen  women  to  expose  their 
children  at  the  church  doors.  In  many  churches,  marble 
basins  were  placed,  in  which  children  could  be  left.  In 
many  communities,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  verger  to  take 
first  charge  of  exposed  children.  Thus,  the  exposing  of 
children  on  these  lines  became  transformed  into  a  kind  of 
legitimate  transference  to  another  of  the  duty  of  maintaining 
a  child.  To  expose  a  child  in  any  other  way  was  a  punishable 
offence.  Since  those  children  that  survived  had  to  be  brought 
up,  the  Church  made  provision  for  this  also.  Gradually 
institutions  were  founded,  to  which  children  were  brought 
secretly,  where  they  were  received  without  restriction  as  to 
number,  and  where  they  were  brought  up.  The  institution  of 
the  turn-table  dates  from  about  the  year  1200,  and  for  many 
centuries  thereafter  was  the  general  method  for  the  secret 
reception  of  the  children.  The  turn-table  is  a  box,  one  side 
of  which  is  left  open,  fixed  in  the  outer  wall  of  the  foundling 
hospital,  and  rotating  upon  a  vertical  axis.  Anyone  wishing 
to  leave  a  child  at  the  institution  has  merely  to  pass  the  child 


The  Care  of  Foimdlings  143 

through  the  opening  on  to  the  turn-table,  and  then  to  ring  the 
bell  adjacent  to  the  turn-table.  Someone  within  the  institu- 
tion thereupon  rotates  the  table  to  receive  the  child,  while  the 
person  who  brought  it  can  go  away  unseen. 

The  foundling  hospitals  of  former  times  were  mere  death- 
traps, with  an  infant  mortality  of  60  to  95  per  cent.  With 
the  advance  of  medical  and  educational  science,  and  with  the 
growth  of  milder  views  regarding  illegitimate  sexual  rela- 
tionships, foundling  hospitals  have  been  greatly  transformed. 
Turn-tables  have  for  the  most  part  been  abolished,  so  that 
they  remain  to-day  in  a  few  countries  only,  and  in  a  few 
foundlmg  hospitals.  Unrestricted  and  secret  reception  of 
infants  has  been  replaced  by  restricted  and  public  reception ; 
institutional  care  has  given  place  to  external  care ;  natural 
feeding,  wherever  possible,  is  preferred  to  artificial  feeding. 
By  these  means,  the  infant  mortality  has  been  greatly  dimin- 
ished, and  those  children  that  survive  receive  a  much  better 
upbringing.  With  the  passage  of  time,  the  foundling  hospitals 
have  come  to  receive  not  foundlings  (abandoned  and  exposed 
children)  only,  but  also  other  children  inadequately  cared  for 
by  the  persons  legally  responsible  (parents,  guardians,  &c.). 
The  foundling  hospitals  thus  take  over  the  work  formerly 
done  by  orphan  asylums  and  similar  institutions. 

The  children  received  by  a  modern  institution  remain 
under  its  roof  for  a  short  time  only,  until  foster-parents 
have  been  found  for  them,  and  return  to  the  institution 
only  in  the  event  of  illness.  Children  that  are  ill  when 
first  received,  are  boarded  out  only  after  they  have  recovered. 
The  foster-parents  are  remunerated  and  subject  to  inspection. 
Thus  the  modern  foundling  hospital  is  :  1,  A  depot  for  the 
reception  of  children ;  2.  A  children's  hospital ;  3.  The  centre 
for  the  supervision  of  the  children  that  are  boarded  out. 
The  latest  phases  in  the  development  of  the  care  of  found- 
lings can  best  be  studied  in  Hungary.  In  this  country  the 
matter  has  been  the  subject  of  recent  legislation  and  regula- 
tion, and  every  child  declared  by  the  local  authorities  to  be 
abandoned  or  neglected  is  received  into  a  foundling  hospital. 
There  have,  of  course,  been  countries  and  districts  in  Europe 
in   which  such  institutions  as  foundling  hospitals  never  de- 


144  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

veloped,  or  in  which  those  that  did  develop  soon  passed  into 
disuse  (for  instance,  in  consequence  of  the  Reformation) ;  here 
foundlings  were  cared  for  in  another  way.  The  feudal  chiefs, 
who,  as  is  well  known,  cared  for  the  poor  within  the  limits  of 
their  fief,  took  over  also  in  such  cases  the  care  of  foundlings. 
Owing  to  the  desire  for  the  rapid  increase  in  population 
characteristic  of  the  dominance  of  the  mercantile  system  of 
political  economy,  foundling  hospitals  existed  transitorily  in 
Protestant  countries. 

The  Latin  System  and  the  Germanic  System. — Two  circum- 
stances mainly  determine  the  manner  in  which  in  a  particular 
country  the  care  of  foundlings  is  regulated.  The  first  of  these 
is  the  condition  of  poor  relief  in  the  country  we  are  consider- 
ing, inasmuch  as  the  care  of  foundlings  is  merely  one  section 
of  poor  relief.  The  second  is  the  legal  position  of  illegitimate 
children,  for  the  majority  of  the  children  to  be  dealt  with  in 
this  connection  are  illegitimate.  The  essential  peculiarity  of 
the  Latin  system  lies  in  this,  that  abandoned  and  neglected 
children  are  dealt  with  through  the  mediation  of  foundling 
hospitals.  This  system  obtains  especially  in  those  countries 
in  which  no  inquiry  into  paternity  is  permitted.  In  the 
Germanic  system,  on  the  other  hand,  foundling  hospitals  are 
unknown,  and  abandoned  and  neglected  children  are  dealt 
Avith  on  the  same  lines  as  other  destitute  persons.  The 
children  are  cared  for  directly  by  the  local  authorities 
responsible  for  poor  relief,  being  in  some  cases  boarded  out, 
in  others  cared  for  in  orphan  asylums  or  other  institutions. 
The  foster-parents  of  boarded-out  children  are  directly  super- 
vised by  the  Poor  Law  authorities.  If  the  parents  or  other 
near  relatives  of  the  children  are  living,  it  is  only  when  the 
relatives  are  unable  to  provide  properly  for  the  children,  or 
are  themselves  in  need  of  poor  relief,  that  the  children  are 
regarded  as  requiring  public  assistance.  The  public  assist- 
ance, m  such  cases,  is  not  given  to  the  child,  but  to  the 
person  or  persons  regarded  as  legally  responsible  for  the 
child's  support.  Thus,  the  child  remains  with  its  family  as 
an  individual  relieved  in  common  with  its  relatives.  The 
Latin  system  employs  a  similar  method  to  the  one  just 
explained  for   the  relief  of  unmarried   mothers   (secours  tem^ 


The  Care  of  Foundlings  145 

poraire — secoitrs  mix  filles-meres)'  To  render  it  unnecessary 
for  the  mother  to  send  her  child  to  a  foundling  hospital,  and 
to  relieve  her  of  the  cost  of  maintaining  it  outside,  she  is 
provided  with  a  monthly  allowance.  This  method,  which, 
notwithstanding  obvious  defects,  is  ever  more  widely  applied, 
is  of  course  associated  with  a  supervision  of  the  mother — a 
supervision  that  is  too  often  defective. 

Institutional  care  is  altogether  unsuitable  for  infants.  For 
the  child  which  cannot  be  cared  for  in  its  own  family,  the 
only  efficient  and  natural  substitute  is  that  it  should  be  cared 
for  in  another  family;  in  comparison  with  this  the  best 
institutional  care  is  purely  mechanical.  Depots  are,  however, 
indispensable  for  the  temporary  care  of  children  until  a  suit- 
able family  can  be  found  for  their  reception.  It  often  happens, 
for  example,  that  a  child  needs  public  assistance  immediately 
after  birth,  and  for  such  a  child  the  depot  is  the  only  place 
available.  Of  late  years,  even  in  the  Germanic  countries,  this 
has  been  more  and  more  clearly  recognised,  and  the  Germanic 
system  has  in  consequence  undergone  substantial  alterations. 
Depots  are  being  instituted,  and  much  greater  stress  is  being 
laid  on  family  care.  In  England  again,  the  significance  of 
institutional  care  (the  workhouse  system)  becomes  con- 
tinually less,  and  that  of  family  care  (the  boarding- out  system 
and  its  modifications,  scattered  homes,  &c.)  becomes  ever 
greater.  For  the  same  reasons,  orphan  asylums  are  under- 
going, though  very  slowly,  a  transformation  similar  to 
that  which  most  foundling  hospitals  have  already  ex- 
perienced. The  orphan  asylum  of  the  future  will  merely 
be :  1,  A  children's  depot :  2,  a  children's  hospital ;  3,  a 
central  station  for  the  supervision  of  children  placed  in 
external  care. 

Thus,  in  course  of  time,  alike  the  Latin  system  and  the 
Germanic  system  have  been  extensively  transformed,  and  as 
a  result  of  these  transformations  the  two  systems  have  been 
assimilated  to  such  an  extent  as  to  have  become  almost 
identical.  It  is,  in  fact,  almost  impossible  to  point  out  any 
notable  difference  between  the  modern  Germanic  and  the 
modern  Latin  system ;  and  the  few  differences  that  still  exist 
are   gradually  disappearing.     The   unmistakable   tendency  of 

K 


146  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

evolution  is  that  these  two  systems,  so  divergent  in  origin, 
will  ultimately  be  completely  assimilated. 

&oim  Modern  Methods  for  the  Care  of  Foundlings. — It  is 
necessary  to  allude,  further,  to  many  modern  methods  for  the 
care  of  foundlings,  some  of  which  are  applicable  also  in  the 
case  of  neglected  children.  These  modern  forms  are — (a)  up- 
bringing in  agricultural  colonies  and  training  ships,  (l)  rescue 
homes  for  children,  (c)  scattered  homes  {Kindergruppen- 
Familiensystem),  (d)  placing  of  the  child  together  with  its 
mother  in  family  care. 

A  rescue  home  for  children  is  properly  an  asylum  whose 
aim  is  to  undertake  the  upbringing  of  neglected  children. 
These  homes  are  really  a  by-product  of  reformatory  schools. 
In  fact,  the  only  difference  between  a  rescue  home  for  children 
and  a  reformatory  school  is  that  children  are  sent  to  the 
latter  by  a  magistrate's  order,  but  this  is  not  so  in  the  case 
of  a  rescue  home. 

The  scattered  home  system  originated  in  the  endeavour 
to  replace  the  family  by  the  formation  of  groups.  It  occupies 
an  intermediate  position  between  institutional  care  and  family 
care ;  and  it  is  claimed  that  it  combines  some  of  the  advantages 
of  institutional  care  with  the  good  effects  of  family  life  upon 
the  character.  The  essence  of  the  system  is  that  somewhere 
in  the  country,  houses  are  built,  or  suitable  houses  rented, 
in  which  the  children  are  cared  for  in  small  groups.  There 
are  from  eight  to  twelve  children  in  one  house— that  is,  such 
a  number  as  are  found  in  an  ordinary  large  family.  Each 
house  is  managed  by  a  childless  couple  of  the  superior  working 
class,  the  man  being  free  to  go  to  his  work,  while  the  woman 
devotes  her  whole  time  to  the  children.  The  children  attend 
the  public  elementary  school,  associating  freely  with  the  other 
children;  the  boys  in  the  home  are  taught  a  trade  by  the 
man,  whilst  the  girls  are  taught  housework  by  the  woman. 

The  boarding  out  of  an  illegitimate  child  and  its  mother 
is  a  system  also  practised  in  Hungary. 

The  Care  of  Foundlings,  Wet-Nursing,  and  Baby -Farming. — 
The  care  of  foundlings  is  closely  connected  with  baby-farming 
and  putting  children  out  to  nurse.  Children  completely  and 
permanently  abandoned  by  their  relatives  are  in  fact  boarded 


The  Care  of  Foundlings  147 

out  with  nurses  or  brought  up  with  foster-parents.  The 
principal  difference  between  the  Germanic  system  for  the  care 
of  foundlings  and  what  is  known  as  baby-farming  consists  in 
this,  that  in  the  former  the  children  are  boarded  out  by 
the  admmistrators  of  the  Poor  Law,  whilst  in  the  latter  case 
it  is  the  relatives  of  the  children  who  make  this  arrangement 
for  them.  The  principal  difference  between  the  Latin  system 
for  the  care  of  foundlings  and  baby-farming  consists  m  the 
fact  that  in  the  former  case  the  foundlings  are  in  the  first 
instance  received  into  a  foundling  hospital,  whereas  children 
sent  by  their  relatives  to  a  baby-farm  go  there  direct  from 
their  homes. 

Speaking  generally,  children  at  a  baby-farm  are  younger 
than  those  under  the  care  of  the  Poor  Law  authorities,  for 
the  need  of  putting  the  former  out  to  nurse  commences  with 
their  birth.  The  mortality  of  children  at  a  baby-farm  is 
usually  greater  than  that  of  Poor  Law  children,  supervision  in 
the  case  of  the  latter  being  commonly  much  more  effective. 
In  most  countries,  State  regulation  of  children  under  the 
Poor  Law  extends  only  for  the  first  few  years  of  life,  and 
applies  only  to  those  boarded  out  for  money ;  but  supervision 
may  extend  through  the  later  years  of  childhood,  and  even  to 
the  attainment  of  full  legal  age,  and  may  apply  to  all  the 
children  for  whose  care  the  local  authority  is  responsible. 

In  the  countries  in  which  the  Latin  system  for  the  care 
of  foundlings  prevails — in  those,  that  is  to  say,  in  which  no 
inquiry  into  paternity  is  permitted  (for  example,  in  France 
and  Italy) — baby-farming  is  less  prevalent  than  it  is  in 
countries  in  which  inquiry  into  paternity  is  permitted.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  in  these  latter  countries  a  much  larger 
proportion  of  unmarried  mothers  receive  from  the  natural 
fathers  an  allowance  for  the  maintenance  of  their  children, 
and  therefore  a  much  larger  proportion  of  illegitimate  children 
in  these  countries  are  farmed  out  for  pay.  At  the  present 
day,  the  requirements  with  which  the  nurses  and  foster- 
parents  have  to  comply  in  the  case  of  all  children  (alike  those 
farmed  out  by  their  relatives  and  those  boarded  out  by  the 
local  authorities)  are  much  the  same  in  all  countries ;  and 
there   is   the  same  general   similarity   in   the   matter   of  the 


148  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

principles  of  supervision  and  in  that  of  tlie  supervising 
authority.  The  tendency  of  evolution  is  that  all  the  nurses 
and  all  the  foster-parents  should  be  supervised  by  the  same 
authority,  and  in  accordance  with  identical  principles. 

Institutional  Care  versus  Family  Care. — If  the  child  is  not 
cared  for  in  its  own  home,  the  question  arises,  is  recourse  to  be 
had  to  institutional  care  or  to  family  care  (close  or  open 
care).     The  following  are  the  objections  to  institutional  care. 

{a)  It  does  not  readily  allow  proper  attention  to  be  paid 
to  the  individuality  of  each  child.  The  care  of  the  emotional 
life  is  a  matter  of  especial  difficulty.  It  is  utterly  impossible 
that  all  the  children  in  an  institution  should  be  truly  and 
individually  loved.  To  pay  a  preference  to  individual  children 
arouses  jealousy.  In  an  institution  the  children  learn  nothing 
about  the  daily  experiences  of  family  life  (for  example,  the 
difficulties  of  earning  a  living,  troubles  small  and  great) ;  on 
the  other  hand,  occurrences  which  profoundly  disturb  the 
life  of  the  family  (illness  and  death,  for  example)  are  matters 
of  daily  experience  in  the  life  of  institutions. 

(&)  In  the  institution  the  child  never  experiences  absolute 
freedom.  On  the  contrary,  it  feels  itself  subject  to  unceasing 
control. 

(c)  Epidemic  diseases  spread  very  readily. 

{d)  A  few  bad  children  may  readily  communicate  un- 
wholesome ideas  and  practices  to  the  others. 

(e)  In  institutional  life,  the  children  learn  nothing  of  the 
vital  needs  of  daily  life,  or  of  the  difficulties  of  the  struggle 
for  existence ;  and  yet  it  is  all  the  more  necessary  that  they 
should  learn  something  about  these  matters,  inasmuch  as  in 
their  subsequent  life  they  will  presumably  have  a  hard 
struggle  for  their  daily  bread.  Whatever  the  child  really 
needs,  it  receives  in  the  institution;  thus  an  idea  arises  in 
its  mind  that  there  is  some  higher  power  which  cares  for 
all  these  things.  The  child  has  to  make  no  effort,  no  sacrifices 
are  exacted  from  it ;  in  the  institution,  tests  of  the  child's 
power  of  resistance,  such  as  might  strengthen  it  to  meet  the 
temptations  of  the  outer  world,  are  few  and  far  between,  for 
from  the  temptations  of  the  outer  world  it  is  sheltered  by 
the  walls  of  the  institution. 


The  Care  of  Foundlings  149 

(/)  The  institution  is  not  adapted  to  provide  for  the 
complete  education  of  a  child — for  the  learning  of  a  trade. 
It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  institutional  care  should  be 
supplemented  by  work  under  a  master,  in  a  technical  school 
or  teaching  workshop, 

{g)  Institutional  care  is  costlier  than  family  care. 

Qi)  Only  family  care  can  replace  for  a  child  the  loss 
of  its  own  family.  Family  care  is  the  only  natural  method  of 
upbringing,  whereas  the  best  possible  institutional  care  is 
purely  mechanical,  full  of  defects,  and  cannot  possibly  replace 
a  free  life.  In  a  sense,  the  institution  is  indeed  a  large  family. 
But  in  the  free  life,  outside  the  particular  family  to  which 
the  child  belongs,  there  are  thousands  of  others,  communi- 
cating and  competing  with  one  another.  No  such  com- 
petition exists  in  the  institution ;  the  child's  work  there  is 
purely  mechanical,  but  as  soon  as  it  enters  the  open  world,  the 
child  has  to  seek  work,  and  often  fails  to  find  it. 

{%)  The  State  lays  down  the  principles  in  accordance  with 
which  the  foster-parents  must  bring  up  the  child,  and  sees 
that  the  foster-parents  have  access  to  expert  advice  concern- 
ing every  department  of  the  hygiene  of  childhood.  The  State 
insists  that  whenever  necessary  the  foster-children  shall  have 
medical  aid,  that  the  children  shall  attend  the  elementary 
school,  &c.  If  the  foster-parents  apply  these  principles  pro- 
perly in  their  care  of  the  foster-children,  they  are  likely  to 
take  care  that  their  own  children  are  treated  at  least  equally 
well.  And  if,  in  any  community,  these  principles  are  applied 
cordially  and  intelligently  by  the  foster-parents,  it  is  probable 
that  the  other  parents  of  the  same  community  will  follow  this 
good  example. 

iji)  Statistical  data  show,  moreover,  that  family  care  gives 
better  results  than  institutional  care,  alike  physically,  mentally, 
and  morally. 

(/)  With  regard  to  the  alleged  defects  of  family  care  (such 
as  that  foster-children  are  less  well  treated  than  the  foster- 
parents'  own  children,  that  they  are  exploited  by  the  foster- 
parents,  that  suitable  foster-parents  are  hard  to  find),  these 
can  readily  be  overcome. 

From  these  considerations  it  would  appear  that  only  in 


150  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

special  circumstances  is  institutional  care  necessary  or  desirable. 
In  the  case,  for  instance,  of  children  physically  or  mentally  ill, 
we  cannot  dispense  with  institutional  care.  Moreover,  institu- 
tions are  necessary  as  a  supplement  to  the  system  of  family 
care — institutions  having  the  characteristics  of  a  depot  and 
an  asylum.  Such  depots  are  indispensable,  if  only  for  the 
reason  that  orphans  immediately  after  the  loss  of  their  parents 
are  in  a  condition  of  mingled  depression  and  excitement,  and 
must,  therefore,  before  being  boarded  with  a  family,  be  calmed 
and  strengthened  for  a  time  by  a  sojourn  in  an  institution. 

As  a  result  of  all  these  considerations,  the  tendency  of 
evolution  is  to  replace  institutional  care  by  a  form  of  family 
care  in  which  the  foster-parents  are  supervised  from  a  central 
depot,  which  serves  also  for  the  temporary  institutional  care 
of  children  needing  such  care.  Whereas  formerly  institutional 
upbringing  was  the  dominant  method,  to-day  family  upbring- 
ing has  become  of  much  greater  importance. 

Sv/pervision  of  Family  Care. — The  modern  State  no  longer 
regards  the  family  care  of  children  by  others  than  their  own 
parents  as  a  purely  private  matter.  A  few  decades  ago,  to 
receive  children  in  this  way  for  pay  was  an  open  profession, 
but  it  is  so  no  longer.  The  local  authorities  regulate  the 
matter  in  detail,  defining  very  precisely  the  standard  of  life 
of  the  boarded-out  child  and  the  methods  of  supervision ; 
and,  as  a  result  of  this  intervention,  the  scandalous  mortality 
attendant  upon  the  old-time  baby-farming  is  now  largely  a 
thing  of  the  past.  Where  children  are  received  in  family  care 
for  pay,  the  intention  is  that  these  children  should  have  all 
the  advantages  of  the  natural  care  they  would  have  obtained 
in  their  own  families.  Thus,  as  far  as  possible,  the  child 
should  remain  permanently  with  the  same  family.  In  actual 
fact,  a  proportion  of  the  children  committed  to  family  care  do 
permanently  remain  with  their  foster-parents — a  proportion 
are  indeed  adopted.  Since  the  children  are  as  a  rule  the 
offspring  of  poor  parents,  and  inasmuch  as  well-to-do  people 
rarely  trouble  themselves  to  undertake  the  upbringing  of 
other  people's  children,  the  foster-parents  will  themselves 
usually  be  poor.  But  they  must  not  be  extremely  poor,  for 
if  this  were  so,  even  though  the  remmieration  were  ample, 


The  Care  of  Foundlings  151 

the  greater  part  of  the  money  would  be  used  by  them  for 
their  own  purposes,  to  the  consequent  detriment  of  the  child. 
But  the  foster-parents  usually  want  to  make  some  profit.  In 
many  countries  they  have  to  demonstrate  that  there  is  no 
absolute  "financial  necessity  for  them  to  receive  a  boarded-out 
child.  It  is  as  well,  in  any  case,  that  the  social  position  of 
the  foster-parents  should  be  at  least  a  trifle  higher  than  that 
of  the  real  parents  of  the  child.  Persons  in  receipt  of  public 
assistance  are  not  suitable  as  foster-parents. 

The  foster-mother  must  not  have  too  much  to  do,  apart 
from  her  work  for  the  child;  and,  above  all,  she  should  not 
be  employed  away  from  the  house.  It  is  necessary  that  the 
foster-parents  should  lead  an  orderly,  decent  life,  that  they 
should  be  really  fond  of  children,  that  they  should  have  a 
proper  knowledge  of  how  to  bring  up  children,  and  that  they 
should  live  in  a  suitable  house.  The  remuneration  must  be 
reasonably  high.  If  it  is  too  low,  the  child  will  not  be  properly 
cared  for,  w411  not  get  enough  to  eat,  will  very  probably  be  ill- 
treated  and  exploited.  It  has  been  statistically  demonstrated 
that  the  death-rate  of  boarded-out  children  is  inversely  propor- 
tional to  the  amount  paid  for  their  care.  The  foster-parents 
are  supervised  by  the  local  authority.  Medical  practitioners 
are  the  chief  executive  instruments  of  this  supervision.  Super- 
vision by  members  of  the  laity  is  inadequate,  for  these  do  not 
pay  sufficient  attention  to  hygienic  considerations.  Voluntary 
honorary  workers  are  also  unsuitable,  for  the  reason  that  years 
of  experience  are  requisite  to  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  con- 
ditions we  are  considering,  and  voluntary  officers  will  not  face 
the  unpleasantnesses  incident  to  efficient  inspection. 

It  is  a  very  important  question  whether  the  family  care  of 
children  can  better  be  carried  out  in  country  districts  or  in 
towns.  Children  who  are  no  longer  quite  young  cannot  in 
any  case  be  sent  to  the  country,  for  they  will  already  have 
acquired  the  usual  preference  of  their  class  for  town  life. 
The  following  reasons  are  adduced  for  preferring  family  care 
in  the  countr}' : — {a)  In  large  towns,  or  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  such  towns,  owing  to  the  high  rents,  the  foster-parents  will 
not  have  a  suitable  dwelling.  (5)  The  children  must  be  kept 
at  a  distance  from  the  dangerous  influences  of  town  life,  and,  it 


152  Eiemeitts  of  Child- Protection 

may  be,  also  from  the  influence  of  undesirable  relatives  living 
in  the  town,  (c)  We  ought  to  counteract  the  drift  of  popu- 
lation into  the  town,  and  we  can  do  this  by  sending  these 
children  back  to  the  country.  {d)  In  the  interest  of  the 
agricultural  districts,  which  suffer  from  insufficient  labour,  it 
is  desirable  that  these  children  should  become  agricultural 
labourers. 

In  answer  to  these  arguments,  the  following  points  have 
to  be  considered : — (a)  When  the  children  grow  up,  they  will 
be  influenced  by  the  general  drift  from  the  country  towards 
the  towns,  and  whereas  they  will  probably  have  learned  no 
skilled  trade  in  the  country,  the  great  majority  of  them  will 
fall  into  the  ranks  of  the  unskilled  labourers.  (&)  From 
the  hygienic  standpoint,  it  is  important  to  remember  that 
the  town  population  is  more  intelligent,  and  that  in  towns 
medical  aid  is  more  readily  available.  Unquestionably,  in 
the  country,  the  only  foster-parents  available  would  be  agri- 
cultural labourers  and  other  manual  labourers.  In  any  case, 
this  question  cannot  be  decided  on  general  principles,  but  only 
on  a  consideration  of  the  needs  of  the  individual  case,  with 
especial  reference  to  the  question  whether  the  child  shows 
an  inclination  towards  agricultural  work  or  manufacturing 
industry. 

Subsidiary  Aims  of  the  Care  of  Foundlings. — The  care  of 
foundlings  is  utilised  by  the  civil  order  for  the  attainment 
of  its  ends.  This  system  renders  possible  the  upbringing  of 
submissive  proletarians,  immunised  against  socialist  ideas,  who 
can  be  enlisted  in  the  reserve  army  of  labour.  From  the  very 
earliest  times  the  existence  of  foundling  hospitals  has  been 
justified  on  the  ground  that  through  their  instrumentality 
persons  were  brought  up  who  could  devote  their  time,  their 
working  powers,  and  their  life  wholly  to  the  State.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  children  under  the  care 
of  the  English  Poor  Law  were  hired  out  to  the  factory  owners. 
In  Germany,  among  the  arguments  for  the  introduction  of 
coercive  reformatory  education,  it  was  pointed  out  that  by 
this  means  cheaper  labour  could  be  provided  for  those  agri- 
cultural districts  in  which  labour  was  scarce.  In  Hungary, 
where  a  few  years  ago  modern  laws  for  child-protection  were 


The    Care  of  Foundli?igs  153 

passed,  it  is  constantly  pointed  out  as  the  task  of  child- 
protection  to  bring  up  the  children  as  "  good  patriots."  For 
this  reason  children  are  boarded  out  with  "  patriotic  "  foster- 
parents  only,  and  in  districts  .where  a  strong  Hungarian 
nationalist  feeling  prevails,  boarded-out  children  are  hardly 
ever  to  be  found.  In  the  history  of  this  institution,  we 
encounter  again  and  again  the  idea  that  foundlings  should  be 
brought  up  as  soldiers,  sailors,  or  colonial  pioneers.  Napoleon 
the  First  wished  to  make  use  of  foundlings  for  recruiting 
the  army,  and  especially  for  the  marines.  He  did  much  to 
secure  that  in  every  arrondissement  in  France,  foundling 
hospitals  with  turn-tables  should  be  instituted ;  and  he  even 
arranged  for  the  foundation  of  such  institutions  in  the  various 
countries  he  conquered.  Quite  recently  the  idea  has  once 
more  recurred  to  utilise  foundling  hospitals  and  orphan 
asylums  as  recruiting  grounds  for  the  army  and  the  navy, 
and  with  this  end  in  view  to  combine  these  institutions  with 
military  and  naval  training  schools. 

For  the  attainment  of  these  ends,  the  civil  order  has  laid 
down  the  principle  that  from  the  first  the  children  shall  be 
brought  up  with  an  eye  to  the  conditions  awaiting  them  in 
the  future — hard  work,  deprivation,  and  poverty.  But  this 
principle  is  only  partially  sound.  Undoubtedly  the  child  must 
be  habituated  to  regular  work,  for  only  in  this  way  will  work 
be  other  than  distasteful.  But  the  child  should  be  taught  in 
such  a  way  as  to  safeguard  it  from  the  lot  of  the  great  mass 
of  unskilled  labourers.  The  standard  of  life  of  boarded-out 
children  should  be  a  good  one ;  for  only  if  the  child  has  been 
accustomed  to  such  a  standard,  will  it  be  spurred,  after  it 
had  become  independent,  to  secure  the  same  standard  by  its 
own  exertions.  In  the  case  of  boarded-out  children  who 
have  already  begun  to  work  for  wages,  the  attempt  on  the 
part  of  employers  to  pay  them  at  a  specially  low  rate  must 
be  strenuously  resisted.  The  reason  given  in  such  cases  by 
the  employers,  that  these  children  need  much  more  atten- 
tion than  other  young  workpeople,  is  invalid.  The  wage  in 
such  cases  should  be  the  standard  wage  of  the  district  for 
other  workers  doing  the  same  class  of  work,  as  otherwise  the 
young  people  feel  exploited  and  oppressed.     The  rightful  aim 


154  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

is  thus  to  lift  foundlings  out  of  the  lower  strata  into  the  higher 
strata  of  wage-labour. 

The  Tendency  of  Evolution. — {a)  Baby-farraing  is  distin- 
guished from  the  care  of  foundlings  only  by  the  fact  that  in 
the  former  the  children  are  entrusted  to  foster-parents  by  their 
relatives  instead  of  by  the  local  authorities,  (b)  The  various 
systems  for  the  care  of  foundlings  tend  to  become  continually 
more  similar.  The  general  tendency  in  every  case  is  to  have 
recourse  to  a  system  of  family  care  supervised  by  the  same 
administrative  authority,  (c)  There  is  a  tendency  to  assimi- 
late the  upbringing  of  neglected  and  of  criminal  children,  and  to 
adopt  for  both  the  same  methods  of  family  care  and  the  same 
kind  of  supervision,  {d)  The  same  remarks  apply  in  the 
case  of  children  who  have  become  legally  liable  to  a  coercive 
reformatory  education,  {e)  In  course  of  time  the  supervision 
of  the  foster-parents — indifferently  whether  the  children  com- 
mitted to  their  care  are  materially  or  morally  neglected  or 
criminal  children,  and  whether  they  are  boarded  out  by 
the  children's  relatives  or  by  the  local  authorities — comes 
to  be  exercised  by  the  same  administrative  authority  and  in 
accordance  with  the  same  principles. 

To-day,  baby-farming  represents  the  first  stage  of  evolution, 
the  Latin  system  for  the  care  of  foundlings  the  second,  the 
Germanic  system  the  third,  coercive  reformatory  education 
the  fourth,  the  education  of  criminal  children  the  fifth.  In  a 
comparatively  short  time  all  the  different  branches  of  child- 
protection  will  come  to  stand  at  the  same  level,  and  in  so  far 
as  they  relate  to  children  neglected  by  their  relatives,  in 
whatever  manner,  they  will  all  take  the  same  form  of  family 
care,  under  a  unified  centralised  control,  and  supervised  locally 
by  the  same  administrative  authority. 


CHAPTER  IV 

WOMEN'S   LABOUR  AND   CHILD-LABOUR 

History  of  Child-Labour. — During  the  Middle  Ages  child- 
labour  seems  not  to  have  been  very  general.  At  the  time  of 
the  guilds,  improper  utilisation  of  the  working  powers  of 
children  and  young  persons  was  hardly  possible.  Night  work 
was  unknown,  and  the  working  conditions  were  strictly 
regulated  by  the  guilds.  In  the  statutes  of  the  guilds,  there 
is  no  reference  to  child-labour ;  whereas,  had  such  labour  been 
at  all  common,  its  regulation  would  have  been  inevitable. 
We  find,  for  example,  in  the  statutes  precise  rules  as  to 
production,  as  to  the  sale  of  the  finished  products,  as  to  the 
hours  of  work,  as  to  the  number  of  craftsmen  to  be  employed 
by  the  individual  masters,  &c.  As  the  guilds  became  mean- 
spirited,  the  condition  of  the  apprentices  became  worse. 

With  the  development  of  manufacturing  industry  and  the 
growth  of  machine  production,  handicraftmanship  lost  its 
dominant  position.  In  consequence  of  the  industrial  revolu- 
tion, the  guilds  perished,  the  principle  of  freedom  of  contract 
was  established,  and  in  accordance  with  this  prmciple  the 
working  powers  of  the  cheapest  of  all  objects  of  exploitation, 
children,  were  utilised.  But  the  first  phase  of  the  develop- 
ment of  capitalism  was  the  most  dangerous  one,  not  only  for 
youthful,  but  also  for  adult  workers.  In  England,  for  example, 
it  was  towards  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  the 
conditions  as  regards  child-labour  were  at  their  worst.  The 
factory  owners  hired  children  from  the  workhouses  and 
orphan  asylums.  These  latter  institutions  were  far  from  the 
factories,  and  for  this  reason  no  ofiicial  supervision  of  the 
children  was  possible,  and  their  care  was  left  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  factory  owners.  The  condition  of  these  orphan 
children,  similarly  with  that  of  the  other  youthful  workers. 


156  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

mocks  every  attempt  at  description.  The  most  heartrending 
tortm-es  were  customary.  They  were  tormented  with  the 
utmost  refinement  of  cruelty;  chained,  flogged,  starved  to 
emaciation,  and  driven  to  suicide.  All  this  is  easily  com- 
prehensible. The  aim  of  the  factory  owner  was  to  utilise  as 
rapidly  as  possible  the  opportunity  resulting  from  the  replace- 
ment of  hand-labour  by  machine-labour,  to  utilise  it  to  gain 
wealth  for  himself  before  machine-labour  became  general ;  he 
therefore  procured  his  labour  at  the  cheapest  possible  price, 
and  exploited  the  working  powers  of  his  employees  to  the 
utmost  limits.  Before  the  days  of  capitalism,  night  work  was 
unknown,  and,  moreover,  was  quite  unnecessary.  But  with 
the  growth  of  capitalist  production,  there  came  into  existence 
a  number  of  industries  which  were  carried  on  continuously 
night  and  day,  if  only  for  the  reason  that  any  interruption  of 
the  process  of  production  would  cause  a  great  curtailment  of 
profit.  Night  work  is  extremely  injurious  in  its  effects,  it 
undermines  the  health  (sleep  during  the  day  does  not  ade- 
quately compensate  for  loss  of  sleep  during  the  night), 
morality,  and  the  family  life  of  the  worker  (who  has  no  time 
to  occupy  himself  with  his  family).  All  these  dangers  are 
even  more  serious  in  the  case  of  women  and  children. 

As  regards  the  diffusion  of  child-labour,  those  branches  of 
manufacture  which  take  the  form  of  home-industry  are  by 
far  the  worst.  The  manual  workers  fight  the  machine -workers 
with  the  same  weapons  that  these  latter  themselves  employ. 
These  weapons  flay  the  hand-workers  even  more  than  the 
machine-workers,  because  the  attempt  is  made  to  compete 
with  the  machine-labour  by  human  over-exertion.  This  pheno- 
menon becomes  apparent  in  every  branch  of  industry  directly 
the  use  of  machines  begins.  In  agriculture,  child-labour 
becomes  a  serious  matter  only  when  manufacturing  industry 
comes  to  draw  labour  more  and  more  from  the  country  into 
the  towns,  so  that  a  scarcity  of  labour  begins  to  prevail  in  the 
country  districts.  Child-labour  in  agriculture  is  a  necessary 
accompaniment  of  the  small-holding  system,  because  the  small- 
holder is  able  transitorily  to  maintain  his  independence  only 
through  the  use  of  cheap  labour  in  the  form  of  the  utilisation 
of  the  working  powers  of  all  the  members  of  his  family.     The 


Women  s  Labour  and  Ckzld-Labotir  157 

widely  celebrated  patriarchal  conditions  which  were  reputed 
to  exist  in  agriculture  have  completely  passed  away.  When 
the  condition  of  the  labour  market  renders  it  possible,  certain 
factory  owners,  even  to-day,  discharge  men  to  replace  them  by 
the  cheaper  labour  of  women  and  children. 

Diffusion  of  Child-Labour. — In  most  countries  the  children, 
alike  in  the  villages  and  in  the  towns,  are  employed  in  agri- 
cultural production,  in  trade,  and  in  manufacturing  industry. 
They  herd  geese,  cows,  sheep,  and  swine ;  work  in  the  fields 
and  in  the  mines ;  beg,  sell  matches,  flowers,  laces,  news- 
papers ;  perform  m  the  street,  at  the  theatre,  the  circus,  and 
the  music-hall ;  work  at  home  with  their  parents  in  inns  and 
drinking  saloons,  and  work  in  factories  and  workshops.  In 
Germany,  about  two  and  a  half  million  children  are  engaged 
in  wage-labour,  and  of  these  more  than  600,000  are  of  school 
age.  Of  these  latter  children  of  school  age,  nearly  60  per 
cent,  are  engaged  in  manufacturing  industry.  The  number 
of  children  employed  on  Sunday  is  certainly  not  less  than 
100,000.  In  the  years  1890-1894,  the  number  of  children 
returned  as  working  in  factories  underwent  a  decline,  for  the 
law  of  1891  and  the  need  for  notifying  the  employment  of 
children  drove  a  portion  of  the  children  previously  employed 
in  factories  into  unregulated  domestic  industry.  In  Switzer- 
land, 5  0  per  cent,  of  the  children  of  school  age  are  engaged  in 
wage-labour;  in  Austria,  only  about  30  per  cent. 

The  child  at  work  in  the  open  air  enjoys  a  healthy  freedom 
of  movement.  For  this  reason,  under  certain  conditions  (which, 
however,  to-day  can  hardly  be  said  to  obtain)  agricultural 
labour  is  healthier  than  any  other.  It  is  seasonal  work — that 
is,  it  is  in  abeyance  in  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  but  in  other 
seasons  is  pursued  with  the  greatest  diligence  and  the  greatest 
possible  intensity,  so  that  the  children  engaged  in  it  must 
work  very  hard  from  early  in  the  morning  till  late  in  the 
evening.  No  one  who  knows  the  wretched  condition  of  the 
country  schools  will  speak  favourably  of  the  school  training 
of  those  children  emjaired  in  agricultural  work.  Child-labour 
in  agriculture  does  not  replace  the  labour  of  adults.  Not- 
withstanding the  increase  in  agricultural  child -labour,  the 
complaints  of  lack  of  labour-power  in  the  country  districs 


158  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

are  unceasing.  The  increased  working  contributions  of  the 
children  are  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  withdrawal 
of  adult  labour.  This  is  all  the  more  important,  because, 
owing  to  the  multiple  character  of  agricultural  activities  and 
the  lesser  extent  of  the  division  of  labour,  agriculture  demands 
more  independence  and  ability  from  the  worker  than  manu- 
facturing industry. 

Domestic  work  is  an  interesting  field  of  child-labour. 
Working-class  parents  are  out  at  work  all  day,  and  have  but 
little  time  to  give  to  housework.  It  is  the  children  who 
attend  to  this.  They  clean  out  the  house,  and  wash  and  dress 
and  take  care  of  the  little  ones ;  that  is  to  say,  such  children 
do  nearly  as  much  work  as  those  employed  in  factories  or 
workshops.  In  addition,  the  girls  have  to  knit,  sew,  mend, 
and  cook. 

Wage-earning  work  for  children  of  school  age  is  another 
interesting  question.  The  number  of  children  of  school  age 
engaged  in  such  work  is  very  great,  and  most  of  them  are 
engaged  in  domestic  industry.  For  a  proportion  of  school 
children,  the  holidays  mean  simply  harder  work  than  ever, 
because,  when  school  attendance  ceases  for  a  time,  there  is  no 
hindrance  to  their  exploitation. 

The  Causes  of  Child- Lcibour. — Capitalism,  notwithstanding 
the  ever-increasing  utilisation  of  machines,  still  needs  a  larger 
and  larger  supply  of  human  labour-power.  Competition 
becomes  increasingly  fierce,  and  therefore  the  capitalists  are 
driven  to  seek  cheaper  and  ever  cheaper  human  labour-power. 
The  material  needs  of  children  are  much  smaller  than  those 
of  adults.  In  Austria,  the  earnings  of  children  engaged  in 
domestic  industry  for  eight  hours  a  day,  in  addition  to  their 
school  work,  amount  to  from  6  to  20  keller  (6d.  to  2d.)  daily. 
In  Germany,  the  wages  of  children  per  hour  seldom  exceed 
7  or  8  pfennig  (about  one  penny).  The  development  of 
technical  science  leads  to  a  simplification  of  the  process  of 
manufacture  by  means  of  a  continually-increasing  division 
of  labour.  This  renders  it  possible  to  employ  in  the  work  of 
production  persons  who  have  no  technical  training  whatever, 
and  whose  bodily  powers  are  very  small.  In  the  case  of 
children,  technical  training  and  bodily  strength  are  less  than 


Womeiis  Labour  and  Child- Labour  159 

in  the  case  of  adults.  The  employers  gladly  make  use  of  the 
working  powers  of  children  for  the  following  reasons :  the 
children  are  inexperienced,  they  are  less  inclined  to  combine 
with  their  fellow-workers,  they  can  more  readily  be  forced 
to  accept'  unfavourable  conditions  of  work,  and  in  the  struggle 
with  his  adult  employees  the  possibility  of  replacing  their 
labour  by  that  of  children  can  be  used  by  the  employer  as 
a  trump  card.  Through  the  employment  of  the  labour  of 
children,  the  total  quantity  of  labour  available  for  employ- 
ment is  increased.  It  is  owing  to  this  fact,  and  to  the  greater 
cheapness  of  their  labour,  that  the  employment  of  children 
in  wage-labour  helps  to  force  down  the  wages  of  adults.  It  is 
through  poverty  as  a  rule  that  children  are  forced  to  adopt 
wage-labour.  The  earnings  of  the  parents  and  of  other  adult 
members  of  the  family  are  so  small  that  the  earnings  of  the 
children  are  absolutely  indispensable,  and  constitute  no  incon- 
siderable addition  to  the  family  income.  The  parents,  who, 
according  to  the  existing  laws,  for  the  most  part  have  full 
control  over  the  earnings  of  children  under  age,  have  a  direct 
interest  in  sending  the  child  to  work.  Many  parents  even 
believe  that  they  have  unrestricted  rights  over  their  children, 
and  that  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  send  the 
latter  to  the  hardest  possible  work  in  the  earliest  years  of 
childhood.  Many  parents  think  that  it  is  good  alike  for  them 
and  for  their  children  that  the  latter  should  work  for  waofes. 
They  are  too  ignorant  to  understand  that  this  expectation  will 
prove  illusive,  and  that  the  actual  result  will  be  the  precise 
opposite  of  what  they  suppose.  Many  children  are  themselves 
pleased  to  go  out  to  work,  which  saves  them  from  having 
to  spend  every  day  and  all  day  in  their  dull  and  gloomy 
parental  home,  saves  them  from  spending  all  their  time  under 
the  eyes  of  their  parents,  and  secures  for  them  freedom  and 
independence,  and  opportunity  for  all  kinds  of  lawful  and 
unlawful  pleasures. 

Womms  Lahour. — The  parts  played  by  the  two  sexes  in 
production  and  consumption  differ  in  consequence  of  sexual 
differences.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  in  earlier  times  women's 
labour  was  concerned  to  a  small  extent  only  with  production, 
and  was  mainly  employed  in  the  regulation  of  consumption 


i6o  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

within  tlie  household.  With  the  development  of  commerce, 
manufacturing  industry,  and  town  life,  as  a  sequel  of  the 
modern  economico- technical  changes  resulting  from  the  evolu- 
tion of  capitalism,  which  rendered  home  industry  more  difficult, 
women's  work  entered  upon  a  new  phase.  Women  gradually 
adopted  work  for  wages,  completely  divorced  from  the  home 
and  its  labours.  Whereas  formerly  women's  work  was  per- 
formed on  behalf  of  certain  specific  persons,  under  conditions 
largely  of  the  women's  own  choice,  women's  work  had  now  to 
be  conducted  in  accordance  with  a  prescribed  code  of  rules, 
and  the  products  were  for  consumption  by  unknown  persons. 
It  is  widely  maintained  that  this  change  was  referable  to 
the  development  of  the  movement  for  women's  emancipation, 
to  the  desire  of  women  for  independence,  but  this  view  is 
erroneous.  The  change  just  mentioned,  far  from  contributing 
to  the  emancipation  of  women,  has  tended  rather  to  fix  the 
yoke  more  firmly  on  their  shoulders.  The  character  of  women's 
work  naturally  experienced  these  changes  in  the  towns  earlier 
than  in  the  country,  in  manufacturing  districts  earlier  than 
in  agricultural.  Such  wage-labour  as  women  to-day  carry  on 
in  their  own  homes  is  urban,  not  rural,  in  character.  Of  late, 
therefore,  ever  more  and  more  women  leave  the  domestic 
hearth  to  sell  their  labour  in  the  industrial  market.  Waofe- 
labour  employs  an  ever-increasing  number  of  women.  The 
census  returns  of  all  civilised  countries  show  that  in  the  last 
decade,  notwithstanding  special  legislation  for  the  regulation 
of  the  work  of  female  wage-earners,,  there  has  been  a  marked 
increase  in  women's  work,  and  that  this  increase  is  propor- 
tionally greater  than  that  of  the  wage-labour  of  men.  In 
countries  in  which  capitalist  production  is  fully  established, 
wage-earning  men  constitute  about  60  per  cent,  of  the  total 
adult  male  population,  whereas  25  to  30  per  cent,  of  the  adult 
female  population  are  wage-earning  women.  In  the  factories 
of  Germany,  more  than  1,000,000  women  are  employed,  of 
whom  more  than  30,000  are  married. 

The  labour-force  of  women  is  utilised  by  capitalism  on 
much  the  same  grounds  as  that  of  children.  Female  labour 
is  cheap,  the  customary  wage  for  women  being  one-half  to 
one-third  of  that  for  men.     The  reasons  for  this  are  as  follows. 


Women s  Labour  and  Child- Labour  i6i 

On  the  average  women  are  more  subject  than  men  to  bodily 
disorders  whereby  their  ability  to  work  is  interrupted.  In 
many  women,  wage-labour  is  merely  a  subsidiary  occupation. 
Such  women  are  willing  to  accept  lower  pay,  and  thus  depress 
the  wages  of  other  women  doing  the  same  classes  of  work. 
Moreover,  they  are  unorganised,  for  the  obvious  reason  that 
in  the  case  of  women  much  less  often  than  in  the  case  of  men 
does  wage-labour  constitute  their  permanent  life-work,  and  the 
centre  of  their  life's  interest  is  to  be  found  in  their  actual 
or  expected  family  life.  Women  are  dexterous  and  quiet 
workers,  conscientious,  punctual,  change  their  dwelling-place 
less  readily  than  men,  and  are  willing  to  undertake  the  most 
disagreeable  and  difficult  kinds  of  work  (married  women  do 
this  for  the  sake  of  their  families).  Many  girls  are  compelled 
to  work  for  absolute  vital  necessities.  In  the  case  of  a  married 
couple,  the  husband's  earnings  may  be  so  small  that  vital 
necessities  can  be  supplied  only  when  the  wife  also  goes  out 
to  work.  The  most  tragic  feature  of  such  cases  is  that  the 
woman  is  usually  forced  to  go  out  to  work  precisely  at  the 
time  when,  in  consequence  of  illness,  the  large  size  of  the  family, 
&c.,  she  is  especially  needed  at  home. 

The  Conseqitenccs  of  Child-Lahour. — A  moderate  amount  of 
occupation  for  children  accustoms  them  to  bodily  and  mental 
activity,  cultivates  in  them  a  sense  of  diligence  and  economy, 
and  safeguards  them  against  idleness  and  other  evil  courses. 
Work  affords  an  important  educational  influence,  and  one 
whose  value  must  not  be  underestimated.  A  moderate  amount 
of  bodily  work  in  addition  to  the  mental  work  of  school  is 
not  merely  harmless,  but  is  in  most  cases  desirable.  It  is 
not  wage-labour  in  and  by  itself  which  is  harmful,  but  the 
conditions  under  which  that  labour  is  usually  carried  out. 
(This  applies  equally  to  the  labour  of  women  and  of  children.) 
The  greed  of  employers,  the  deficient  resisting  powers  of 
children,  and  the  poverty  of  the  children's  relatives,  make 
child-labour  dangerous  in  manifold  ways  for  the  bodily,  mental, 
and  moral  health  of  the  child,  (a)  Character :  the  work  is 
monotonous,  difficult,  carried  on  in  dusty,  evil-smelling,  damp 
places,  very  early  in  the  morning  or  late  at  night,  (b)  Dura- 
tion: many  children  work  five  to  six  or  even  eight  to   ten 

L 


1 62  Elements  of  Chitd- Protection 


hours,  in  addition  to  their  school  work,  (c)  Age :  even  to-day, 
hundreds  of  children  of  six,  seven,  or  eight  go  out  to  work  for 
wages ;  in  home-industries,  children  even  of  four  or  five  are 
employed,  (c?)  Other  conditions :  the  tragical  revelations  of 
official  inquiries  display  very  clearly  certain  other  disastrous 
results  of  child-labour. 

Let  us  consider,  for  example,  the  case  of  the  apprentices. 
Although  children  of  fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age  are  not 
so  strong  as  the  adult  workers,  they  have  to  rise  at  an  earlier 
hour  to  put  the  workshop  in  order ;  for  the  same  reason  they 
leave  later  than  the  adult  workers.  They  have  to  serve  the 
master,  his  family,  and  his  assistants,  and,  in  addition,  to  attend 
school.  Thus  most  apprentices  have  to  work  very  hard  from 
early  in  the  morning  till  late  at  night,  and  this  not  only  in  the 
workshops,  but  also  at  domestic  work.  At  the  same  time  they 
are  often  very  badly  treated.  Many  employers  engage  many 
more  apprentices  than  are  really  needed,  simply  in  order  to  be 
able  to  dispense  with  the  services  of  assistants  and  servants, 
whose  duties  are  performed  by  the  apprentices.  In  course  of 
time  this  ill-treatment  of  apprentices  becomes  more  widely 
diffused.  The  misery  of  the  apprentices  is  greater  in  propor- 
tion to  the  poverty  of  the  factory  or  workshop  in  which  they 
are  employed.  No  one  need  be  surprised  that  there  is  univer- 
sal complaint  of  the  lack  of  apprentices.  They  are  so  badly 
treated  that  no  parents  want  their  own  child  to  become  an 
apprentice.  Moreover,  many  families  are  so  poor  that  their 
children  must  earn  money  as  soon  as  possible,  and  therefore 
cannot  be  apprenticed.  The  relationship  between  apprentice 
and  master  involves  a  contract  on  the  one  side  to  give  care, 
protection,  and  instruction,  and  on  the  other  to  do  work. 
Thus  the  relationship  of  the  apprentice  to  the  master  is  a 
twofold  one,  the  apprentice  being  a  pupil,  but  also  a  workman. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  master  to  instruct  the  apprentice.  For 
this  purpose  the  apprentice  is  wholly  entrusted  to  the  master's 
care,  and  must  carry  out  the  duties  ordered  by  the  master. 
The  master  is  the  stronger  party  economically,  and  possesses  a 
kind  of  parental  authority  over  the  apprentice,  so  that  the 
former's  rights  and  duties  in  respect  of  the  contract  of  service 
cannot   be  very  precisely  defined.     Such   protective  rules  as 


1 


Women  s  Labour  and  Child-Labotir  i6 


:> 


exist  for  apprentices  practically  ignore  the  smaller  industries 
and  home-work,  for  in  these  the  difficulties  of  proper  super- 
vision appear  almost  insuperable.  What  has  been  said  will 
have  shown  that  there  are  sufficient  causes  for  the  miseries  of 
apprentices. 

Thus  it  appears  that  factory  work  is  not  the  worst  of  all 
for  children.  The  influence  of  factory  work  appears  in  such  a 
bad  light  simply  because,  owing  to  its  being  more  readily 
supervised,  and  owing  to  the  facility  for  statistical  statement 
of  its  results,  the  data  are  in  this  case  more  readily  obtainable. 

The  lives  of  children  employed  in  circuses  and  similar 
spectacular  public  entertainments  are  always  in  danger.  Any 
work  which  is  disproportionate  to  the  powers  of  the  weak  and 
undeveloped  body  of  the  child  is  injurious  to  the  latter's  health. 
Arduous  work  interferes  with  proper  growth,  and  the  effects  of 
such  work  may  be  especially  disastrous  in  the  female  sex, 
giving  rise  to  pelvic  contraction,  &c.  By  interfering  with  the 
proper  development  of  individual  organs,  different  forms  of 
child-labour  give  rise  to  characteristic  deformities.  It  is  a 
well-known  fact  that  the  disease-rate  and  the  death-rate  are 
higher  in  youthful  wage-workers  and  in  apprentices  than  in 
other  children.  In  this  connection  it  suffices  to  refer  to  the 
so-called  "diseases  of  occupation."  It  is  a  matter  of  general 
knowledge  that  in  those  districts  in  which  children  engage  in 
very  arduous  wage-labour,  the  percentage  of  adults  found  to 
be  fit  for  military  service  is  exceptionally  small.  The  best 
example  of  this  is  found  in  those  districts  of  Sicily  in  which 
children  work  in  the  sulphur  mines.  In  the  year  1827,  King 
William  III  of  Prussia  ordered  measures  to  be  taken  against 
excessive  child-labour,  in  consequence  of  reports  made  to  him 
to  the  effect  that  a  large  proportion  of  child-workers  subse- 
quently proved  unfit  for  military  service. 

When  a  child  begins  in  early  youth  to  work  for  wages,  his 
school  attendance  is  interfered  with.  If  the  child-worker  does 
attend  school,  it  is  so  tired  that  it  cannot  follow  the  teacher 
with  sufficient  attention.  In  districts  in  which  a  large  percent- 
age of  the  children  are  at  work,  the  educational  development 
of  the  whole  population  suffers,  and  not  merely  that  of  those 
who  work  for  a  living.     Children  whose  occupation  involves  a 


164  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

very  restricted  use  of  their  faculties  become  unfitted  for  other 
occupations,  and,  indeed,  lose  almost  entirely  the  faculty  of 
adaptation.  In  the  streets  of  great  manufacturing  towns, 
large  seaports,  and  like  places,  we  find  numbers  of  children 
engaged  in  the  sale  of  matches,  flowers,  newspapers,  &c.,  and 
they  hawk  such  wares  also  in  public-houses,  coffee  taverns,  and 
the  like.  Most  of  them  use  this  traffic  merely  as  an  excuse 
for  vagabondage,  begging,  criminal  practices,  or  the  offer  of 
then-  persons  for  use  by  sexual  perverts.  They  frequent  the 
streets  by  night  as  well  as  by  day,  and  make  no  secret  of  the 
fact  that  their  aim  is  to  beg  rather  than  to  sell  their  wares. 
It  will  readily  be  understood  that  in  the  streets  and  other 
places  in  which  they  hawk  their  wares,  such  children  get  into 
very  bad  company,  and  are  likely  to  become  completely  de- 
praved. Those  children  who  work  in  factories  or  workshops, 
and  those  who  are  employed  in  agriculture,  are  in  continuous 
contact  with  adult  workers,  by  night  as  well  as  by  day,  listen 
to  their  obscene  conversation,  and  watch  their  improper  acts. 
Some  youthful  workers  are  quite  independent  and  free  from 
all  supervision.  Such  workers  often  earn  comparatively  good 
wages,  and  this  early  command  of  money  is  in  such  circum- 
stances apt  to  be  fruitful  of  evil  in  various  ways. 

Excessive  work  awakens  in  the  child  an  aversion,  and  even 
a  hatred,  to  work.  Such  a  child  works  only  from  compulsion 
and  under  the  influence  of  fear.  The  hatred  of  work  thus 
engendered  becomes  a  cause  of  truancy  and  idleness.  Vagabond- 
age and  begging  are  easier  and  more  lucrative  than  incessant 
toil.  When  the  child  perceives  that  its  lot  is  one  of  arduous 
toil,  whilst  others  live,  not  comfortably  merely,  but  in  luxury, 
anti-social  sentiments  are  aroused.  When  such  a  child  grows 
up,  we  have  an  adult  disinclined  for  exertion  and  taking 
pleasure  in  nothing.  Owing  to  the  monotony  of  his  occupa- 
tion and  the  neglect  of  his  education,  his  intelligence  is  dull 
and  stupid.  He  sees  that  his  parents  force  him  to  work  and 
otherwise  neglect  him,  and  this  destroys  his  afl'ection  for  his 
relatives.  The  foundation  of  the  authority  of  family  life, 
namely,  the  economic  dependence  of  the  other  members  of 
the  family  upon  its  head,  is  undermined  by  child-labour. 
Some  wage-earning  children  are  entirely  dependent  upon  their 


Women's  Labour  and  Child-Labour  165 

work,  and,  if  unemployed,  as  often  happens,  they  lose  then- 
only  legitimate  means  of  support,  and  are  forced  into  vicious 
modes  of  livelihood.  It  is  proved  by  statistical  data  that  a 
larger  percentage  of  youthful  wage-earners  than  of  other 
children  become  criminals;  and,  further,  that  in  those  dis- 
tricts in  which  child-labour  especially  prevails,  criminality  is 
more  extensive  than  in  others. 

The,  Consequences  of  Women's  Labour. — Many  girls  begin  to 
work  for  wages  before  their  physical  development  is  completed, 
and  when  their  sexual  life  is  just  beginning  to  awaken.  The 
injurious  effects  of  work  upon  the  health  are  much  greater  in 
women  not  yet  fully  developed  than  in  older  women.  By 
hard  work  the  subsequent  development  of  the  blossoming  girl 
is  disturbed.  By  wage-labour  girls  are  deprived  of  the  oppor- 
tunity of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  details  of  household 
management ;  their  mode  of  life  is  free  and  unsupervised,  so 
that  they  .^le  apt  at  an  early  age  to  enter  into  illegitimate 
sexual  relationships.  It  will  be  readily  understood  that,  in 
different  classes  of  workwomen,  the  unfavourable  influence  of 
these  factors  will  exert  itself  in  different  ways.  It  will  sufiice 
to  refer  to  the  different  working  conditions  of  female  factory 
hands  and  of  female  domestic  servants. 

There  are  many  branches  of  manufacturing  industry  in 
which  women  ought  not  to  be  employed  at  all,  because  the 
work  these  branches  involve  is  injurious  to  women's  health, 
and,  in  especial,  to  the  functions  of  their  sexual  life ;  there 
are  many  other  branches  of  industry  in  which  women  should 
only  be  employed  if  certain  specific  precautions  have  been 
taken,  and  if  certain  regulations  are  rigidly  enforced.  But 
at  present  economic  pressure  forces  women  into  these  occupa- 
tions also,  and  the  necessary  precautions  and  regulations  are 
too  often  ignored.  Many  women  are  engaged  in  the  most 
exhausting  and  offensive  occupations,  and  have  to  continue  at 
work  even  in  the  later  stages  of  pregnancy.  It  may  even 
happen  that  the  capitalist  pays  a  pregnant  woman  a  smaller 
wage  than  his  other  women  workers,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  her  needs  are  greater.  It  will  readily  be  understood 
how  disastrous  may  be  the  influence  of  this  upon  the  unborn 
child.     The  children  of  women  who  continue  at  work  during 


1 66  Elements  of  Child- Pi'otedion 

pregnancy  are  born  earlier  and  are  weaker  than  tte  children 
of  other  women.  Occupations  especially  dangerous  for  the 
unborn  child  are  those  in  which  the  mother  has  to  sit  for 
long  hours  at  a  time  in  a  bent  posture ;  those  in  which  she 
has  to  stand  continuously;  those  in  which  she  works  in 
contact  with  mercury,  phosphorus,  aniline,  iodine,  lead,  or 
nicotine.  In  women  who  continue  to  work  during  pregnancy, 
miscarriage,  premature  labour,  and  still-births  are  commoner 
than  in  other  women.  With  regard  to  the  question  of  the 
prohibition  of  women's  work  during  pregnancy  and  lactation, 
another  point  has  to  be  considered.  If  the  woman  remains 
away  from  work  throughout  the  whole  period  of  pregnancy 
and  lactation,  not  only  does  she  lose  her  place  with  her 
employer,  but  also  she  loses  to  a  large  extent  her  previously 
acquired  skill  and  aptitude  for  work.  It  results  from  this 
that  the  woman  is  no  longer  able  to  work  when  work  again 
becomes  possible  to  her.  If  the  mother  of  a  young  infant  is 
forced  to  engage  in  wage-labour,  the  consequences  are  ex- 
tremely disastrous  to  the  child,  for  its  care  is  inevitably 
neglected.  The  proletarian  mother  neglects  her  child  in  many 
instances  not,  as  is  so  often  believed,  because  of  the  lack  of 
maternal  affection,  but  simply  because  she  is  forced  to  go  out 
to  work. 

Obviously  it  makes  a  great  difference  whether  the  mother's 
wage-earning  work  is  carried  on  at  home  or  elsewhere.  In 
the  latter  case  the  mother  can  do  less  for  her  child,  but  home- 
work has  the  great  and  obvious  disadvantage,  that  it  trans- 
forms the  dwelling  into  a  workshop,  and  thereby  accentuates 
the  already-existing  hygienic  defects  of  the  proletarian  home. 
Moreover,  in  domestic  industry  the  protective  regulation  of 
women's  labour  is  far  less  complete,  and  the  wages  are  also 
lower.  If  the  wife  goes  to  work  instead  of  the  husband, 
matters  are  not  quite  so  bad  as  they  otherwise  might  be, 
for  the  husband  in  such  cases  to  some  extent  takes  his  wife's 
place  in  the  household.  The  conditions  are  far  worse  when 
both  husband  and  wife  go  out  to  work.  If  both  the  parents 
go  to  work  in  a  factory,  the  interests  of  the  entire  family 
suffer;  the  children  receive  no  proper  upbringing,  and  the 
whole  family  life  is  ruined.      In  districts  in  which  the  married 


Women  s  Labou7'  and  Child- Labour  167 

women  go  out  to  work  in  factories,  the  percentage  of  mis- 
carriages and  of  still-births,  and  the  death-rate  and  the 
criminality-rate  among  the  children,  are  all  greater  than  in 
regions  in  which  factory  work  for  married  women  does  not 
prevail.  In  manufacturing  regions,  in  times  during  which 
female  unemployment  is  widely  prevalent,  there  is  a  decline 
in  infant  mortality,  in  spite  of  the  increasing  poverty  resulting 
from  the  lack  of  employment.  The  death-rate  of  the  children, 
and  more  especially  the  death-rate  of  the  infants,  in  any  area, 
is  found  to  increase  in  a  direct  ratio  with  an  increase  in  the 
number  of  hours  that  the  mothers  work  away  from  their 
homes,  and  to  vary  inversely  with  the  amount  of  the  daily 
earnings.  The  chief  cause  of  high  infant  mortality  is  artificial 
feeding,  or  rather  the  diseases  engendered  by  artificial  feeding. 
Among  the  Jews,  the  infantile  death-rate  is  lower  than  among 
those  of  other  creeds.  The  chief  cause  of  this  difference  is 
that  so  small  a  percentage  of  the  Jewish  married  women  work 
for  wages.  But  in  the  Jewish  proletariat  the  conditions  as 
regards  infantile  mortality  are  identical  with  those  that  obtain 
among  the  Christian  proletariat. 

The  result  of  the  wife's  absence  from  home  in  order  to 
work  for  wages  is  that  she  is  unable  to  attend  to  the  work  of 
the  household ;  for  this  reason,  the  housekeeping  of  her 
home  is  at  once  costly  and  bad;  commodities  and  services 
which  in  working-class  homes  are  usually  provided  by  the 
labour  of  the  housewife  have  to  be  obtained  or  provided 
elsewhere  for  money — washing  and  mending,  for  instance. 
Owing  to  the  prevailing  disorder  of  the  household,  many 
articles  have  to  be  bought  anew,  when  the  old  ones  would 
have  done  very  well  for  a  long  time  if  carefully  mended  or 
patched.  Various  housekeeping  accessories  are  required ;  a 
servant  may  have  to  be  employed.  The  dirt  and  disorder  of 
the  dwelling,  the  bad  feeding,  and  the  irregular  family  life, 
often  drive  the  husband  to  drink ;  and  this  further  increases 
the  family  expenses. 

Begulation  of  Child  -  Lctbour. — Of  all  working  conditions, 
those  aflfccting  child-labour  are  perhaps  most  unrighteously 
regulated.  The  relationship  between  the  protection  of  child- 
labour  and  the  protection  of  other  kinds  of  labour  is  analogous 


1 68  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

to  the  relationship  between  the  sections  of  criminal  law 
dealing  with  youthful  offenders  and  those  dealing  with 
adult  criminals.  It  is  an  actual  fact  that  leofislation  for  the 
protection  of  adult  Avorkmen  originated  in  the  protection 
of  child-labour.  It  was  in  England,  the  true  fatherland  of 
the  factory  system,  that  the  regulation  of  child-labour  first 
made  its  appearance.  The  first  English  law  for  this  purpose 
was  passed  in  the  year  1802.  Even  as  early  as  this  it  was 
necessary  to  intervene  for  the  protection  of  child-labour,  for 
at  that  time  the  conditions  were  perhaps  the  worst  in  the 
whole  history  of  child-labour.  The  individualist  state,  being 
already  to  some  degree  permeated  by  socialist  ideas,  protects 
women's  labour  and  child-labour.  But  this  protection,  like  that 
of  labour  in  general,  was  not  in  any  way  based  upon  ethical  con- 
siderations ;  it  arose  simply  from  the  need  to  protect  the  work- 
ing capacity  of  the  labourers  considered  as  profit-making  tools. 
Moreover,  in  many  countries,  the  regulations  for  the  protection  of 
labour  are  for  the  most  part  evaded  or  ignored  by  the  employers. 
In  the  more  advanced  countries,  but  only  in  these,  we  find 
the  following  legislative  provisions  for  the  regulation  of  child- 
labour.  Child-labour  and  compulsory  school  attendance  are  con- 
tradictories. If  merely  in  the  interest  of  the  protection  of  child- 
labour,  the  State  must  ordain  that  every  child  shall  attend  school 
from  the  age  of  six  to  the  age  of  twelve,  and  must  employ 
every  means  in  its  power  to  see  that  the  duty  of  school 
attendance  is  never  evaded.  Kegulations  are  made  for  the 
prevention  of  mendicancy  by  children.  In  addition,  the  State 
prescribes  the  conditions  under  which  children  may  perform 
in  public  (in  the  theatre,  the  concert-room,  the  music-hall, 
the  circus,  &c.).  The  general  groundwork  of  these  regulations 
is  that  children  under  fifteen  shall  not  appear  in  public  for 
money  at  all,  and  those  over  fifteen  only  by  special  permission 
of  the  local  authorities.  Apprenticeship  is  also  subject  to 
State  regulation.  Before  the  indentures  are  signed,  it  is 
necessary  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  local  authority,  and 
there  must  be  a  written  contract  between  the  child's  legal 
representative  and  the  master.  The  master  must  employ  the 
child  only  upon  suitable  work,  and  must  provide  proper 
housing,  food,  and  education  for  the  apprentice ;  the  appren- 


Women  s  Labour  and  Child-Labour  169 

tice  must  live  in  a  place  altogether  apart  from  the  workshop, 
and  must  attend  an  apprentices'  or  continuation  school ;  the 
master  has  no  right  to  inflict  corporal  punishment.  What 
has  been  said  about  apprentices  applies  in  some  degree  also 
to  juvenile  domestic  servants.  The  State  regulates  child- 
labour  in  the  larger  workshops  and  in  factories.  The 
employment  for  wages  of  children  below  a  certain  age  is 
completely  forbidden.  When  this  age  is  surpassed,  a  child 
may  be  employed  only  when  permission  has  been  obtained 
from  the  local  authority.  Night  work  by  children  is  abso- 
lutely prohibited  ;  a  maximum  number  of  hours  is  prescribed 
for  daily  work  (five  to  eight),  and  for  weekly  work  (thirty  to 
forty-eight),  adapted  to  the  child's  age  and  physical  constitu- 
tion ;  the  intervals  (daily  and  weekly)  for  rest  and  the  intervals 
for  meals,  and  also  the  minimum  wage,  are  likewise  prescribed. 
The  State,  of  course,  arranges  thait  breach  of  these  regula- 
tions shoujr'  be  visited  with  punishment,  with  withdrawal  of 
the  authority  of  the  parent  or  guardian,  and  with  prohibition  of 
the  employment  of  children  by  the  employer  concerned. 

Begidation  of  Women  s  Labour. — Night  labour  for  women  is 
in  some  cases  forbidden,  in  others  allowed  under  certain  restric- 
tions. The  employment  of  women  in  mines  and  in  certain 
other  extremely  dangerous  occupations  is  forbidden.  The 
employment  of  women  for  a  certain  number  of  weeks  after 
childbirth  is  also  forbidden.  From  various  sides  we  hear  a 
proposal  that  women  should  be  permitted  to  work  as  half- 
timers — that  is,  for  half  the  working  day.  It  is  suggested,  to 
secure  continuity  of  work,  that  the  women  should  work  (during 
the  daytime  only)  in  two  shifts,  half  the  women  employees 
during  the  morning,  the  other  half  during  the  afternoon.  The 
advocates  of  this  proposal  suggest  that  the  women  on  the 
morning  shift  could  attend  to  their  domestic  duties  in  the 
afternoon,  and,  conversely,  that  those  on  the  afternoon  shift 
could  attend  to  their  domestic  duties  in  the  morning,  and  that 
the  supervision  and  care  of  the  children  could  be  mutually 
arranged  by  the  members  of  the  two  shifts.  Most  of  the 
advocates  of  this  system  propose  merely  its  introduction  as  an 
optional  measure — that  is  to  say,  that  women  who  wish  to 
work  the  whole  day  should  not  be  forbidden  to  do  so  ;  and 


170  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

they  also  propose  that  it  should  be  applicable  in  the  case  of 
married  women  only.  In  any  case,  we  cannot  expect  great 
things  from  any  such  system. 

Reform  of  Apprenticeship. — To-day  much  thought  is  given 
to  the  question  of  the  reform  of  apprenticeship,  which  indeed 
stands  greatly  in  need  of  reform.  The  technical  education  of 
the  present  day  is  extremely  defective.  The  smaller  employers 
are  unable  to  give  proper  instruction,  because  they  lack  both 
time  and  capacity.  The  training  of  the  apprentices  in  the 
larger  factories  is  also  scrappy,  because  the  division  of  labour 
is  of  such  a  kind  that  none  of  the  employees  have  time  to  give 
to  the  instruction  of  apprentices,  and  these  latter  therefore 
receive  no  more  than  a  partial  technical  education.  Moreover, 
the  owners  of  the  larger  factories  are  unwilling  to  receive 
apprentices,  because,  if  they  do  this,  their  factories  are  sub- 
jected to  a  number  of  additional  inconvenient  regulations. 
The  apprentice  no  longer  belongs,  as  in  former  times,  to  the 
master's  family,  and  no  longer  receives  his  education  there ; 
indeed,  many  masters  do  not  even  provide  board  and  lodging 
for  their  apprentices,  and  in  that  case  the  latter  are  apt  to  be 
greatly  neglected.  It  is  obvious  that  great  stress  must  be  laid 
upon  the  technical  education  of  apprentices.  But  no  import- 
ance can  be  attached  to  the  argument  that  through  a  proper 
education  of  the  apprentices  an  improvement  would  be  effected 
in  the  conditions  of  the  lesser  industries.  What  is  necessary  is 
that  the  State  should  provide  technical  schools,  and  itself  under- 
take in  these  the  education  of  apprentices.  In  some  countries 
quite  a  number  of  such  technical  schools  have  been  founded, 
but,  owing  to  the  great  cost  of  these  schools,  the  complete  aboli- 
tion of  the  system  of  the  nominal  instruction  of  apprentices  at  the 
hands  of  their  masters  is  not  at  present  to  be  expected.  Homes 
of  technical  instruction  for  girls  are  also  greatly  needed,  and  do 
already  exist  in  many  places.  But  such  homes  must  on  no 
account  be  under  the  manasrement  of  the  Church,  nor  must 
they  be  dominated  in  any  degree  by  the  so-called  religious 
spirit.  Their  sole  object  is  to  provide  for  these  learners  board 
and  lodging  on  the  same  scale  as  they  would  have  if  they  were 
in  service,  and  to  provide  them  with  opportunities  of  seeking 
employment  during  their  free  time.     A  further  crying  need  is 


Women  s  Labour  and  Child-Labour  171 

the  organisation,  not  of  apprentices  only,  but  of  the  younger 
workmen  and  workwomen  generally.  The  organisation  of  the 
workers  is  the  most  effective  means  for  the  prevention  of  their 
ill-treatment  at  the  hands  of  their  employers. 

The  general  attitude  of  socialists  and  trade-unionists 
towards  apprenticeship  is  the  following  :  Many  trade-unions 
insist  that  in  collective  bargains  between  workpeople  and  their 
employers  there  should  be  stipulations  as  to  the  maximum 
number  of  apprentices  to  be  employed  by  each  individual 
master  ;  before  the  contracts  of  apprenticeship  are  signed,  the 
unions  call  the  attention  of  the  relatives  of  the  proposed 
apprentice  to  the  unfavourable  position  occupied  by  the 
apprentices  in  certain  branches  of  industry,  and  warn  the 
relatives  against  certain  employers  who  are  well  known  to 
treat  their  apprentices  badly  ;  some  unions  found  their  own 
technical  schools.  No  attention  whatever  need  be  paid  to  the 
objection  that  such  activities  on  the  part  of  trade-unions  tend 
towards  the  revival  of  the  old  guild  system. 

Enforcement  of  such  Regulations. — To  secure  a  really  effective 
protection  for  women's  labour  and  child-labour,  it  is  necessary 
that  women  and  children  should  be  protected  in  all  branches 
of  labour,  including  agriculture  and  domestic  service.  If  the 
protection  and  regulation  are  limited  to  certain  branches  of 
labour,  the  iaevitable  result  is  that  women  and  children  are 
driven  out  of  the  protected  and  regulated,  into  the  unprotected 
and  unregulated  trades.  (This  was  the  experience  in  Germany, 
for  example,  as  a  sequel  of  the  law  passed  in  the  year  1891.) 
It  is,  above  all,  necessary  that  home  industry  should  be  regu- 
lated, as,  in  default  of  this,  no  satisfactory  results  can  be  expected. 
It  is  further  essential  that  all  children  should  be  protected,  re- 
gardless of  the  relationship  they  may  bear  to  the  employer. 
Employers  related  to  the  children  they  employ  must  be 
subject  to  regulation  just  as  much  as  others,  for  it  is  well 
known  that  relatives  who  have  once  begun  to  exploit  their 
own  children  tend  to  become  the  most  inconsiderate  of  all  those 
who  overdrive  youthful  workers. 

In  the  larger  workshops,  and  in  factories,  the  requisite 
strict  and  continuous  regulation  of  all  the  circumstances 
which  might  affect  children  unfavourably  is  rendered  fairly 


172  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

easy,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  number  of  such  large  estabhsh- 
ments  is  comparatively  small.  But  the  stringency  and  reality 
of  the  supervision  still  leave  much  to  be  desired,  owing  to  the 
great  influence  possessed  by  wealthy  property  owners.  In 
almost  every  country,  year  after  year,  the  factory  inspectors 
report  that  the  regulations  for  the  protection  of  children  work- 
ing in  factories  are  evaded,  and  yet  the  local  authorities  are 
powerless  to  remedy  these  abuses.  Where  children  work  in 
their  own  families,  or  in  small  workshops,  the  conditions  are 
always  less  favourable,  owing  to  the  close  and  intimate  relation- 
ship that  obtains  in  these  cases  between  child  and  employer. 
Inasmuch  as  the  number  of  families  engaged  in  home  industries 
and  employed  at  small  workshops  runs  into  millions,  and  in 
view  of  the  circumstance  previously  mentioned,  that  the  pro- 
tection of  child  home-workers  involves  an  interference  with 
parental  authority,  regulation  is  here  a  much  more  difficult 
matter. 

The  executive  authorities  to  which  is  entrusted  the  enforce- 
ment of  these  protective  regulations  are :  medical  practitioners, 
factory  inspectors,  local  governing  bodies,  police,  and  school 
teachers.  It  is  essential  that  the  part  played  by  the  medical 
practitioner  should  be  largely  extended.  Permission  for  a  child 
to  undertake  wage-labour  should  depend  absolutely  upon  the 
permission  of  a  certifying  physician ;  the  doctors  should 
examine  all  the  workplaces  with  an  eye  to  their  hygienic 
requirements  ;  and  from  time  to  time  they  should  examine 
the  female  and  youthful  employees,  to  make  sure  that  their 
work  is  not  injurious  to  their  health.  But  we  are  still  far 
from  the  adoption  of  these  simple  and  yet  essential  measures. 
The  rule  of  the  factory  inspectors  is  especially  important,  because 
the  enforcement  of  regulations  for  the  protection  of  labour  is 
one  of  their  principal  and  specific  duties.  In  many  of  the 
States  of  the  American  Union,  in  France,  in  England,  and  in 
many  of  the  federated  States  of  the  German  Empire,  there 
already  exist  female  factory  inspectors.  The  school  teachers 
play  an  important  part  in  regulation.  They  are  constantly  in 
contact  with  the  children,  know  their  special  circumstances, 
are  in  a  position  to  note  abnormalities  as  they  appear,  and 
readily  ascertain  the  causes  of  such  abnormalities.     Above  all, 


Women  s  Labour  and  Child- Labour  173 

is  their  role  an  important  one  in  relation  to  the  control  of 
domestic  industry. 

Ohje.ctions  to  the  Protective  Regulation  of  the  Labour  of  Women 
and  Children. — Many  objections  have  been  advanced,  chiefly  by 
the  employers  of  labour,  against  the  protective  regulations  we 
have  been  considering.  Most  of  these  objections  were  first 
heard  in  England  more  than  a  century  ago,  at  the  time  of  the 
first  legislation  for  the  protection  of  child-workers  ;  but  they 
are  continually  and  loudly  reiterated  to-day.  They  are  the 
following :  («)  Arduous  physical  toil,  the  work  of  the  prole- 
tarians, women's  labour,  are  merely  parts  of  the  struggle  for 
existence  with  which  we  have  no  business  to  interfere,  (h)  The 
work  of  women  and  children  is  indispensable  to  modern  in- 
dustry, for  certam  of  its  processes  can  be  carried  out  only  by 
women,  or  by  children,  as  the  case  may  be.  (c)  The  work  is 
not  injurious  to  the  health  either  of  women  or  of  children  ;  on 
the  contrary,  it  does  them  good,  {d)  The  children  ought  to  be 
at  work,  otherwise  they  are  either  loafing  about  the  streets  or 
making  themselves  a  nuisance  to  their  parents  at  home,  (e)  To 
abolish  women's  labour  and  child-labour  would  simply  be  to 
deprive  them  of  their  means  of  livelihood.  (/)  The  suppression 
of  women's  labour  and  child-labour  renders  it  more  difficult 
for  national  industry  to  compete  with  foreign  industry ;  indeed, 
it  threatens  the  very  existence  of  the  national  industry,  {g) 
Many  advocates  of  the  emancipation  of  women  oppose  the  protec- 
tion of  women's  labour  on  the  ground  that  such  protection  limits 
women's  right  to  sell  their  labour,  {h)  In  regions  inhabited 
by  two  or  more  nationalities  regarded  as  being  of  unequal 
value,  it  is  thought  to  be  permissible  to  exploit  the  labour  of 
the  women  and  children  of  the  reputedly  inferior  race.  (In 
the  United  States  of  America,  for  example,  we  are  told  that 
the  question  is  not  one  concerning  American  children,  but  one 
concerning  Slavonic  and  Italian  children,  which,  however  hard 
they  may  have  to  work,  are  yet  better  off  than  they  would 
have  been  in  their  own  fatherland.  It  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  in  the  United  States  of  America,  especially  in  the  Southern 
and  the  Western  States,  the  conditions  in  the  matter  of  child- 
labour  are  much  the  same  as  those  that  obtained  in  England 
at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.) 


174  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

These  Objections  Answered. — {a)  The  answer  to  this  and  to 
similar  arouments  was  sjiven  in  our  discussion  of  Darwinism 
in  relation  to  child-protection.  (6)  There  are  no  processes 
for  whose  performance  women  and  children  are  indispensable. 
When,  for  certain  stages  of  manufacture,  women  and  children 
are  unobtainable,  these  stages  are  very  well  performed  by 
men  or  by  machinery,  (c)  This  is  true  only  when  the  con- 
ditions of  work  are  properly  regulated,  {d)  It  is  true  that 
certain  work  may  exercise  an  educative  influence ;  but  wage- 
labour  is  entirely  devoid  of  moralising  and  educative  influences. 
When  we  are  told  that  by  putting  the  child  to  work  it  learns 
to  love  work,  that  it  becomes  thrifty  and  diligent,  that  it  is 
restrained  from  vagabondage,  we  may  answer,  that  under 
present  conditions  wage-labour  for  children  has  the  very 
opposite  efi'ects.  If  child-labour  in  factories  and  workshops 
really  exerted  such  an  educative  influence  as  the  employers 
pretend,  why  do  they  not  send  their  own  children  to  work 
in  the  factories,  and  why  do  they  reserve  these  advantages  for 
the  children  of  the  proletariat?  (/)  Wherever,  in  certain 
branches  of  industry,  woman's  labour  and  child-labour  have 
been  forbidden,  as,  for  example,  in  England,  the  following 
results  have  been  noted.  An  improvement  in  working  con- 
ditions is  invariably  followed  by  an  increase  in  the  intensity 
of  the  work  performed,  and  also  by  an  improvement  in  its 
quality.  Manufacturing  industry  does  not  come  to  a  stand- 
still because,  in  consequence  of  regulation,  certain  processes 
previously  performed  by  women  and  children  have  now  to  be 
carried  out  by  machines  or  by  men ;  on  the  contrary,  as  a 
result  of  this,  the  industry  becomes  more  vigorous  and  more 
efficient.  It  does  so,  first  of  all,  because  the  latest  improve- 
ments in  technique  are  perforce  adopted  when  cheap  labour 
can  no  longer  be  exploited ;  in  the  second  place,  because  the 
health  of  the  workers,  upon  which  above  all  the  efficiency 
of  the  industry  depends,  is  increased.  Kegulation  therefore 
actually  increases  the  power  of  a  national  industry  to  make 
headway  against  foreign  competition.  We  have  also  to 
remember  that  the  same  objections  that  we  are  now  considering 
have  been  advanced  against  the  protection  of  adult  male 
labour,    and  have   been   shown   by   experience   to  be  invalid 


Women  s  Labour  and  Child- Labour  175 

in  this  case  also.  This  objection  commonly  makes  its  appear- 
ance in  the  following  form  :  in  many  branches  of  industry  the 
protection  of  the  workers  increases  the  cost  of  production  and 
lowers  the  quality  of  the  goods  produced ;  this  resulted,  for 
example,  when  the  use  in  certain  processes  of  lead,  mercury, 
phosphorus,  and  arsenic  was  forbidden,  and  the  sequel  was  that 
the  commodities  in  question  were  imported  from  countries  in 
which  such  protection  of  labour  did  not  exist.  But  this 
argument  is  in  fact  an  argument  for  the  internationalisation 
of  the  legislative  protection  of  labour.  For  it  involves  an 
admission  that  the  disadvantages  of  such  regulation  cease 
to  exist  when  in  a  number  of  competing  countries  like  measures 
of  protection  prevail,  so  that  no  one  of  the  countries  enjoys 
in  this  respect  any  commercial  advantage  over  the  others. 
It  is  an  actual  fact  that  in  very  recent  years  the  international 
regulation  of  women's  labour  and  child -labour  on  uniform 
lines  has  made  enormous  advances.  The  very  fact  that  the 
protection  of  women's  labour  and  child-labour  tends  to  lead 
ultimately  to  the  adoption  of  a  uniform  international  code,  is  an 
extremely  favourable  phenomenon,  in  harmony  with  the  general 
tendency  of  evolution,  {g)  The  argument  from  the  side  of 
the  advocates  for  the  emancipation  of  women  is  fundamentally 
false.  It  does  not  tend  towards  women's  emancipation  to 
leave  women  free  to  seek  their  own  destruction.  If  the 
protection  of  women's  labour  leads  to  injurious  results,  the 
only  conclusion  we  can  properly  draw  from  this  fact  is  that 
our  regulation  must  be  effected  in  some  other  manner,  so 
that  these  injurious  results  may  no  longer  occur.  Qi)  The 
argument  about  the  inferior  races  is  a  very  dangerous  one. 
The  rights  of  women  and  children  are  identical,  to  whatever 
nationality  they  may  happen  to  belong.  We  might  just  as 
well  maintain  that  the  exploitation  of  the  labour  power  of  the 
proletariat  is  quite  justifiable  on  the  ground  that  the  pro- 
letariat is  of  inferior  quality  to  the  other  classes  of  society. 
And  if  we  are  told  that  women  and  children  are  better  off 
in  the  factories  and  workshops  than  they  are  in  their  own 
homes,  the  obvious  answer  to  this  is  that,  in  that  case,  it 
is  absolutely  essential  that  the  conditions  of  their  domestic 
life  should  be  improved. 


176  Elements  of  Child- Pi^otection 

Radical  Solution  of  the  Problem. — A  radical  solution  of 
this  problem  is  to  be  expected  only  from  an  increase  in  the 
wages  of  the  adult  male  workers.  Not  until  the  earnings 
of  the  father  of  the  family  suffice  to  provide  adequately  for 
all  the  needs  of  the  family,  will  it  become  unnecessary  for 
mother  and  children  to  work  for  wages.  It  is  a  fact  of  general 
experience  that  those  workmen  who  earn  adequate  wages  do 
not  let  their  wives  and  children  go  out  to  work ;  and  also 
that  in  the  case  of  men  occupied  in  the  so-called  seasonal 
trades,  it  is  only  during  the  husbands'  slack  season  that 
the  wives  and  children  contribute  by  their  earnings  to  the 
family  income  (for  instance,  the  wives  and  children  of  brick- 
layers go  out  to  work  during  the  winter  only).  If  women 
and  children  did  not  undertake  wage-labour,  the  supply  of 
labour  in  general  would  be  much  smaller,  and  as  a  result 
of  this  the  wages  of  the  adult  male  workers  would  necessarily 
rise.  It  is  most  probable  that  in  course  of  time  the  adult 
male  workers  will  succeed  in  obtaining  considerably  higher 
wages  than  they  receive  on  the  average  to-day.  Wage-labour 
on  the  part  of  women  and  children  will  then  for  the  most 
part  cease,  and  this  will  result  in  yet  further  increase  in  the 
wages  of  the  men.  The  adult  male  workers  should  not 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  by  allowing  their  wives  and  children 
to  work  for  wages  they  merely  succeed  in  making  their  own 
condition  worse.  For  a  short  time  after  the  wives  and 
children  first  begin  to  work  there  may,  indeed,  be  an  increase 
in  the  family  income ;  but  the  ultimate  result  is  to  make  life 
harder,  not  merely  for  themselves,  but  for  other  workmen 
in  general.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  they  do  not  allow  their 
wives  and  children  to  engage  in  wage-labour,  they  may 
sometimes  suffer  for  the  moment,  by  a  temporary  diminution 
in  income;  but  they  enter  upon  a  path  which  cannot  fail 
ultimately  to  lead  to  benefit  both  for  their  own  family  and 
for  the  other  workers. 

The  Tendency  of  Evohition. — The  tendency  of  evolution 
is  towards  the  disappearance  of  child-labour.  It  is  statistically 
proved  that  that  the  larger  any  industrial  undertaking,  the 
smaller  proportionately  is  the  number  of  children  employed 
in  that  undertaking.     But  the  tendency  of  evolution  is  un- 


Women  s  Labour  and  Child- Labour  177 

questionably  in  the  direction  of  the  development  of  gigantic 
commercial  enterprises  through  the  absorption  or  competitive 
destruction  of  a  much  larger  number  of  comparatively  small 
enterprises.  In  the  future  we  shall  attain  a  condition  in 
which  no  one  will  be  allowed  to  undertake  work  of  any  kind 
which  is  injurious  either  to  himself  or  to  his  offspring  in  any 
way  whatever.  Much  of  the  work  of  women  and  children  for 
wages  such  as  goes  on  to-day  will  unquestionably  be  prohibited. 
No  doubt,  wage  work  for  women  will  exist  in  the  future, 
and  some  of  it  perhaps  will  be  more  intensive  even  than 
to-day ;  but,  unquestionably,  whatever  wage  work  women  do 
will  be  in  a  form  which  can  do  no  harm  to  the  present  or 
to  future  generations.  Children  will  be  properly  educated, 
and  until  the  years  of  their  education  are  finished  will  engage 
in  such  work  only  as  is  educative  in  its  influence  and  character. 
Technical  manual  instruction  will  be  one  of  the  principal 
methods  of  education.  As  co-operative  housekeeping  spreads, 
women  will  have  much  less  domestic  work  to  do  than  at 
present.  In  this  department  of  work  also,  the  principle  of 
the  division  of  labour  will  be  applied,  and  the  individual 
details  of  the  domestic  economy  of  to-day  will  then  be  en- 
trusted to  the  hands  of  professional  specialists.  Adult  women 
will  engage  in  much  the  same  sort  of  work  as  men,  with 
the  exception  of  those  occupations  which  experience  shows 
to  be  injurious,  for  sexual  reasons,  either  to  themselves  or  to 
their  offspring.  In  the  regulation  of  women's  work,  considera- 
tion will  of  course  have  to  be  paid  to  the  physiological 
disturbances  which  periodically  recur  in  women. 


M 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   PROTECTION   OF   CHILDREN   AGAINST   DISEASE 

Introductory. — The  objects  of  this  department  of  child- 
protection  are,  first,  to  prevent  the  child  becoming  ill; 
secondly,  if  it  has  become  ill,  to  cure  it.  The  hygiene  of 
childhood  deals  with  the  former  question,  and  pediatrics  with 
the  latter.  In  this  chapter  we  shall  consider  those  problems 
only  which  concern  the  health  of  children  of  the  poorer 
classes. 

The  Health  of  Proletarian  Children. — Owing  to  the  lesser 
resisting  power  of  children,  the  factors  of  ill-health  operate 
much  more  powerfully  in  the  case  of  youthful  than  in  the 
case  of  adult  proletarians.  But  other  factors  are  in  operation 
in  addition  to  this  inferior  power  of  resistance.  Unfavourable 
■conditions  act  upon  proletarian  women  during  pregnancy,  and 
affect  proletarian  children  at  the  time  of  birth.  The  circum- 
stance which  more  than  all  others  is  injurious  to  the  health  of 
•these  children,  and  which  contributes  to  produce  the  result 
that  a  larger  percentage  of  working-class  than  of  upper-class 
■children  are  feeble-minded,  is  quantitative  and  qualitative  insuf- 
ficiency of  nutriment.  Studies  of  the  relationship  between  the 
prices  of  food-stuffs  and  the  average  working-class  income  have 
shown  that  the  majority  of  working  men  have  an  income  too 
small  to  provide  for  themselves  and  their  children  the  minimum 
quantity  of  nutritive  materials  (of  the  proper  quality)  which 
physiological  science  has  proved  to  be  indispensable  to  the 
daily  renewal  of  the  bodily  forces.  Statistical  data  prove 
beyond  question  that  the  height  and  the  body-weight  of 
proletarian  children  are  less  than  those  of  children  of  the 
well-to-do.  Rickets  is  principally  a  disease  of  children  of 
the  poorer  classes.     Among  upper-class  children  the  severer 

forms   of    this   disease   is   hardly  ever   seen.      Rickets   arises 

178 


The  Protection  of  Child7^en  against  Disease     179 

chiefly  as  a  sequel  of  digestive  disturbances ;  and  these,  in 
their  turn,  are  referable  to  the  deficiencies  of  artificial  feeding. 
Among  the  poor  we  find  many  more  blind  children  and  many 
more  deaf  mutes  than  among  the  rich,  the  reason  being  that 
among  the  poor,  in  so  many  instances,  when  the  defect  is  first 
noticed,  no  attempt  is  made  to  seek  medical  advice.  According 
to  trustworthy  statistical  data,  9  5  per  cent,  of  the  occupants  of 
blind  asylums  belong  to  the  poorer  classes. 

Causes  of  the  Movement  for  the  Protection  of  Proletarian 
Children. — To-day  great  stress  is  laid  upon  attention  to  the 
health  not  only  of  the  general  population,  but  in  especial  to 
the  health  of  children.  During  the  nineteenth  century  the 
view  became  general  that  in  the  interests  of  the  health  of  the 
children,  society  ought  to  be  prepared  to  make  any  sacrifices. 
In  the  domain  of  social  hygiene — that  is,  of  the  science  which 
occupies  the  borderland  between  the  science  of  public  health 
and  the  science  of  sociology — neither  the  men  of  theory  nor 
the  men  of  practice  can  venture  to  adopt  a  one-sided  class 
outlook.  During  recent  years,  upon  the  groundwork  of  these 
sound  conceptions,  a  number  of  new  institutions  have  been 
founded,  by  means  of  which  the  general  condition  of  public 
health  and  the  hygiene  of  childhood  (including  that  of  pro- 
letarian childhood)  have  been  considerably  improved.  In 
many  directions  the  advances  in  medical  science  tend  to 
counteract  with  success  the  disorders  consequent  upon  the 
development  of  capitalism.  The  technique  of  artificial  feeding 
has  been  greatly  improved,  and  this  has  led  to  a  reduction  in 
infantile  mortality;  ophthalmia  of  the  new-born  can  now  be 
efficiently  prevented,  and  this  has  led  to  a  decrease  in  the 
number  of  blind  persons. 

To  the  upper  classes  of  society  the  health  of  the  lower 
classes  is  of  importance  for  two  reasons — {a)  the  former  have 
need  of  the  working  powers  of  the  latter,  and  in  bad  hygienic 
conditions  these  working  powers  are  impaired  ;  (h)  if  the  health 
of  the  lower  classes  is  neglected,  it  is  not  these  classes  alone 
which  suffer,  but  the  rich  suffer  as  well.  For  example,  the 
well-to-do  are  endangered  when  nothing  is  done  to  check  the 
spread  of  infectious  diseases  among  the  poor,  and  when  poor 
persons   attacked   by  these   diseases   are   left  without  proper 


i8o  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

treatment.  If  the  health  of  poor  children  be  neglected,  the 
results  are  extremely  serious,  not  for  these  children  alone,  but 
for  the  children  of  the  well-to-do  and  for  adults. 

Institutions. — Institutions  are  of  great  importance.  A 
larger  proportion  of  the  children  of  the  poor  than  of  the 
children  of  the  well-to-do  are  dealt  with  in  institutions,  for 
well-to-do  parents  live  in  commodious  houses,  in  which  their 
children  can  be  properly  cared  for,  they  are  able  to  summon 
the  doctor  whenever  necessary,  and  so  on.  The  most  important 
institutions  in  this  connection  are  hospitals  for  infants  and 
young  children.  Children's  hospitals  are  not  as  yet  very 
numerous ;  hospitals  for  infants  are  still  fewer.  The  majority 
of  these  institutions  are  maintained,  not  by  the  State  or  by  the 
local  authority,  but  by  the  community  at  large.  It  is  owing 
to  the  fact  that  children's  and  infants'  hospitals  are  so  few  in 
number  that  medical  practitioners  are  so  inadequately  trained 
in  respect  of  the  hygiene  of  childhood  and  pediatrics,  and  in 
especial  in  the  hygiene  and  therapy  of  infant  life.  The  need 
for  such  hospitals  is  not  satisfied  by  the  foundation  of  children's 
clinics.  A  combination  of  hospitals  for  infants  with  lying-in 
hospitals  or  foundling  hospitals  is  unquestionably  along  the 
proper  course  of  development. 

If  we  wish  to  ascertain  the  value  of  institutions  for  children 
who  are  blind,  deaf-mute,  crippled,  or  feeble-minded — if  we 
wish  to  learn  whether  it  is  socially  worth  while  to  take  special 
pains  for  the  care  of  such  children,  or  whether  they  can  be 
adequately  cared  for  in  general  institutions,  and  what  would 
be  the  cost  of  these  respective  methods  —  we  must  study 
statistics  bearing  on  these  questions.  But,  unfortunately, 
these  statistics  are  defective  and  extremely  untrustworthy. 
They  are  defective,  because  they  fail  to  give  us  precise  infor- 
mation concerning  personal  data  and  concerning  the  percentage 
of  such  children  who  are  or  may  become  fit  to  earn  their  own 
living.  They  do  not  classify  properly  according  to  age,  and 
they  do  not  state  accurately  how  many  of  the  children  have 
inherited  and  how  many  have  acquired  the  defect  from  which 
they  suffer.  (The  youngest  children  will  usually  be  found  to 
suffer  from  an  inherited  defect,  since  they  will  hardly  have 
had  time  to  acquire  it.     Among   those   suffering  from  such 


The  Protection  of  Children  against  Disease     i8i 

defects,  the  young  present  a  larger  proportion  of  sufferers  than 
we  find  among  the  general  population,  because  the  mortality 
of  the  children  thus  affected  is  higher  than  the  mortality  of 
healthy  children.)  The  statistics  are  untrustworthy,  because 
the  existence  of  deaf-mutism  is  often  overlooked  until  child- 
hood is  comparatively  advanced,  and  feeble-mindedness  may 
not  be  recognised  at  all.  In  the  twentieth  century,  in  the 
civilised  countries  of  Europe,  we  find,  per  100,000  of  the 
population,  from  50  to  130  blind  persons,  from  60  to  250 
deaf  persons,  70  to  450  feeble-minded  and  insane  (minimal 
and  maximal  figures),  and  about  120  cripples.  According  to 
certain  statistical  data,  one-fourth  of  the  blind  and  two-thirds 
of  the  deaf-mutes  are  competent  to  earn  their  living,  and  90 
per  cent,  of  the  cripples  are  endowed  with  perfectly  normal 
mental  powers.  It  is  even  maintained  that  from  such  children, 
if  they  are  otherwise  healthy,  we  can,  with  comparatively 
trifling  effort,  obtain  useful  members  of  society. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  when  once  such  children  have 
been  born,  we  must  do  the  best  we  can  for  them  and  with 
them.  They  must  either  be  destroyed,  or,  in  default  of  this, 
must  be  developed  and  educated  to  the  fullest  extent  of  their 
powers ;  unless  this  is  done,  great  evil  ensues,  for  the  children 
become  permanently  dependent  upon  public  assistance ;  or 
else  (and  this  applies  especially  to  the  feeble-minded)  become 
confirmed  criminals.  When  the  defect  is  a  serious  one,  such 
children  should  on  no  account  be  brought  up  in  the  family 
circle,  or  educated  in  ordinary  schools ;  it  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  provide  special  schools  and  institutions  for  each  class 
of  such  defectives — blind  schools,  deaf-mute  schools,  cripple 
schools,  &c.  Feeble-minded  children,  however,  whose  mental 
level  is  only  a  very  little  below  the  average,  or  who  are  merely 
backward  from  a  temporary  retardation  of  development,  may 
be  educated  in  the  ordinary  schools,  or  in  special  classes  of 
these  schools.  Children  with  defective  hearing  should  not 
attend  the  public  elementary  school.  Even  if  such  a  child  is 
exceptionally  talented,  and  if  it  receives  the  greatest  possible 
amount  of  help  at  home,  these  circumstances  will  not  make 
up  for  the  educational  defects  inevitably  attendant  upon  its 
deafness.     As  soon  as  examination  by  the  school  doctor  shows 


1 82  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

that  serious  defect  of  hearing  exists,  or  if  such  defect  is 
obvious  even  before  medical  examination  has  been  made,  the 
child  should  be  transferred  to  a  special  class  or  to  a  special 
school  for  the  deaf.  As  far  as  I  am  aware,  such  institutions 
exist  as  yet  only  in  Berlin. 

In  the  treatment  of  defective  children,  the  school  teachers 
as  well  as  the  doctors  have  a  very  important  part  to  play. 
It  is  best  that  those  who  teach  such  children  should  them- 
selves have  received  specialised  medical  and  educational 
training.  It  was  not  until  the  beginning  of  the  latter  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century  that  any  serious  effort  was  made  to 
grapple  with  the  problem  of  the  education  of  the  blind  and  the 
deaf-mutes;  it  was  more  than  a  hundred  years  later  before 
the  problems  of  the  education  of  feeble-minded  and  of  crippled 
children  respectively  began  to  receive  serious  attention. 

Country  Holiday  Funds  and  Open-air  Schools. — The  health 
of  town  children  sometimes  needs  a  thorough  restoration,  in 
default  of  which  the  child  would  become  seriously  ill  in  the 
dusty  and  contaminated  air  of  our  large  towns.  But  in  chil- 
dren of  school  age  such  restoration  is  possible  only  during  the 
summer  holidays.  This  is  where  the  country  holiday  funds 
can  play  a  very  useful  part.  These  began  to  come  into 
existence  in  Switzerland  about  thirty  years  ago,  and  have  now 
obtained  a  wide  diffusion  in  all  civilised  countries,  and  especi- 
ally in  manufacturing  countries.  As  with  every  new  branch 
of  public  care  for  the  needs  of  the  poor,  and  especially  with 
the  institutions  considered  in  this  chapter,  the  first  steps  in 
this  matter  were  taken  by  the  community  at  large — that  is  to 
say,  by  private  associations.  It  will  be  a  task  of  the  near 
future  to  organise  and  unify  these  associations.  Such  country 
holidays  are  an  important  feature  of  the  campaign  against  tuber- 
culosis. They  have  the  further  advantage,  that  they  provide 
the  child  with  manifold  new  experiences.  The  societies  take 
poor  and  weakly,  but  not  actually  diseased  children,  and  send 
them  to  the  country  for  the  summer  holidays,  in  some  cases 
boarding  them  with  families,  in  other  cases  sending  them  to 
special  institutions.  The  advantages  of  the  family  system 
are  those  of  family  life  in  general,  and  in  addition  that  in 
such  a  family  the  town  child  will  learn  much  more  about  the 


The  Protection  of  Children  against  Disease     183 

details  of  country  life.  Of  late  some  of  these  societies  have 
gone  on  to  the  foundation  of  permanent  holiday  homes  for 
the  relays  of  children  they  send  to  the  country.  Inasmuch 
as  the  good  effect  of  the  summer  visit  to  the  country  tends 
soon  to  pass  off,  the  after-care  of  the  children  during  the 
winter  is  very  useful.  In  the  case  of  children  who  for  one 
reason  or  another  (for  example,  because  they  lack  suitable 
clothing,  or  because  the  society  does  not  possess  adequate 
funds)  cannot  be  sent  to  the  country  for  a  sufficiently  long 
time,  semi-urban  colonies  and  milk-stations  are  not  without 
their  value.  The  children  during  the  holiday  season  are 
taken  by  the  teacher  in  large  groups  (forty  to  sixty)  into  the 
open,  are  well  fed,  and,  if  opportunity  offers,  given  baths,  and 
in  the  evening  taken  home  to  their  parents.  Of  late  years 
has  originated  the  idea  of  the  open-air  school,  which  occupies 
an  intermediate  place  between  the  school  and  the  sanatorium 
for  children.  During  the  holiday  season  the  children  stay 
in  the  forest,  and  receive  every  day  a  few  hours'  instruction 
in  the  open  air.  Holiday  playgrounds  provide  opportunities 
for  town  children  to  play,  under  the  guidance  of  suitable 
persons,  in  school-yards  and  in  parks.  In  this  connection 
may  also  be  mentioned  arrangements  for  the  exchange  of 
children  during  the  holiday  season  between  town  and  country 
families.  Certain  weakly  and  sickly  children  should  during 
the  summer  be  sent  to  a  spa  or  a  sanatorium.  There  already 
exist  special  spas,  Kurorts,  and  sanatoria  for  children.  There 
are,  for  example,  special  seaside  resorts  for  rickety  and  tuber- 
cular children.  \e.g.  in  England,  for  tubercular  children, 
Margate.] 

Proposed  Reforms. — It  is  the  duty  of  the  poor-law  boards 
to  devote  great  attention  to  the  health,  not  merely  of  those 
children  for  whose  care  they  are  directly  responsible,  but  also 
for  poor  children  in  general.  The  law  should  provide  a  right 
of  interference  on  the  part  of  the  local  authority  in  the  case 
of  children  whose  health  is  endangered  by  prolonged  confine- 
ment to  the  house — for  example,  where  there  is  grave  danger 
from  exposure  to  infection — and  this  in  cases  in  which  it 
is  not  possible  to  speak  of  "  neglect "  in  the  narrower  sense 
of  the  term.     But    if   powers    are    given,   in   such   cases,   to 


184  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

remove  a  child  for  institutional  care,  it  should  only  be  till 
such  a  time  as  is  requisite  for  the  domestic  conditions  to 
be  transformed,  so  that  the  child  may  return  home  without 
danger  to  its  health.  In  respect  of  the  hospitals  under  the 
direct  control  of  the  local  authorities,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
latter  should  have  the  right  of  removal  of  children  need- 
ing hospital  treatment  whose  parents  do  not  send  them  to 
hospital  on  their  own  initiative.  This  last  idea  is  already 
partially  realised,  inasmuch  as  certain  modern  foundling 
hospitals  receive  for  treatment  sick  children  who  have  not 
entered  the  hospital  as  foundlings. 

Need  for  Enlightenment, — It  is  really  astounding  how  little 
the  laity  know  about  the  elementary  principles  of  the  hygiene 
of  child  life,  and  more  especially  of  infant  life.  In  respect 
of  the  management  of  infants,  the  most  absurd  practices  pre- 
vail, some  of  which  are  largely  responsible  for  the  extent  of 
infant  mortality.  It  is  therefore  of  enormous  importance  that 
the  population  in  general,  and  especially  the  lower  classes, 
should  be  properly  instructed  in  these  matters.  But  even 
medical  practitioners  lack  sufficient  instruction  in  respect  of 
the  hygiene  and  therapy  of  childhood,  and  even  more  in 
respect  of  the  hygiene  and  therapy  of  infancy.  This  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  there  is  no  proper  teaching  of  these  specialties 
at  most  universities.  Quite  recently,  however,  there  has  been 
some  improvement  in  these  respects. 

The  Tendency  of  Evolution. — The  importance  of  such  insti- 
tutions as  those  we  have  been  discussing  will  become  ever 
greater.  Indeed,  the  great  majority  of  sick  persons  will 
ultimately  receive  institutional  care.  The  functions  we  have 
been  considering,  at  present  administered  by  the  community 
at  large  and  by  the  local  authority,  will  eventually  be  taken 
over  by  the  State. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  PUBLIC  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL 

Im'portaTice  of  the  Public  Elementary  School. — Of  the  various 
schools,  it  is  only  the  public  elementary  school  with  which 
we  need  concern  ourselves  in  this  book.  The  State  com- 
pels no  one  to  attend  the  higher  school  or  the  university. 
The  children  of  the  lower  classes  of  the  population,  whose 
relatives  are  not  in  a  position  to  provide  instruction  for  them 
in  their  own  homes,  are  all  sent  to  the  public  elementary 
school.  Now,  since  in  a  manufacturing  town  nearly  three- 
fourths  of  all  the  children  belong  to  the  lower  classes,  since 
for  this  reason,  of  the  children  attending  the  public  elemen- 
tary schools,  the  enormous  majority  belong  to  the  proletariat, 
since,  finally,  only  a  minimal  proportion  of  proletarian  children 
attend  any  other  kind  of  school,  it  follows  that  the  public 
elementary  school  is  primarily  intended  for  the  children  of 
the  proletariat,  and  that  practically  the  only  school  available 
for  these  children  is  the  public  elementary  school.  To-day, 
the  children  of  the  lower  classes  are  educated  almost  exclu- 
sively in  the  public  elementary  school,  those  of  the  middle 
classes  chiefly  in  the  public  elementary  school,  while  those 
of  the  upper  classes  are  educated  almost  without  exception 
in  their  own  homes  by  tutors  and  governesses.  [Obviously 
the  writer  refers  here  to  the  conditions  obtaining  in  his  own 
country.] 

Methods  of  Instruction. — Children  at  the  present  day  can 
be  educated  by  any  of  the  following  methods :  (a)  The  parents 
themselves  instruct  their  children  ;  (&)  they  have  their  children 
taught  by  a  tutor  or  a  governess  in  their  own  homes ;  (c)  they 
combine  to  carry  on  special  schools  for  their  own  children 
(family  schools);    {d)  they  send    their   children   either   to    a 

governmental  or  to  a  private  school.     In  former  days  there 

185 


1 86  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

existed  no  public  schools.  Parents  either  educated  their  own 
children,  or  had  them  educated  by  a  tutor  or  governess.  As 
time  goes  on  the  number  of  parents  increases  who  are  com- 
petent to  teach  their  children  all  that  they  learn  at  the  public 
elementary  school ;  but  most  parents  have  neither  leisure  nor 
desire  to  undertake  this.  Consider,  for  example,  the  case  of 
the  father  of  a  family  whose  whole  day  is  spent  at  work.  Most 
fathers  of  families  make  a  better  use  of  their  time  by  devoting 
all  their  energies  to  their  trade  or  profession,  instead  of  them- 
selves attempting  the  education  of  their  children.  Thus  here 
also  the  principle  of  the  division  of  labour  comes  more  and  more 
fully  into  application.  The  parent  gives  his  whole  time  to  his 
work  for  a  livelihood,  and  the  profession  of  teacher  becomes 
more  and  more  exclusively  that  of  a  specialist.  The  children 
of  the  proletariat  are  in  need  of  education,  and  in  their  case, 
apart  from  the  question  of  leisure  or  desire,  the  parents  lack 
the  necessary  aptitude  to  instruct  their  own  children.  The 
public  elementary  schools  of  to-day  have  come  into  existence 
for  the  children  of  these  lower  strata  of  the  population,  and 
the  curriculum  of  such  schools  has  been  determined  mainly 
by  the  decision  of  the  upper  classes  as  to  what  it  is  expedient 
that  the  lower  classes  should  be  taught. 

Education  at  home  by  a  tutor  or  governess  is  in  certain 
respects  superior,  and  in  other  respects  inferior,  to  that  obtain- 
able at  the  public  elementary  school.  The  advantages  of 
home  instruction  are,  first,  that  it  has  a  more  individual 
character,  since  the  tutor  or  governess  is  more  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  child,  and  each  individual  child  receives  a 
comparatively  larger  share  of  the  teacher's  attention ;  secondly, 
in  the  case  of  a  large  family,  we  have  the  best  possible  type 
of  co-education;  thirdly,  the  unhygienic  influences  of  the 
public  elementary  school  can  be  avoided.  The  disadvan- 
tages are :  a  really  good  tutor  or  governess  is  by  no  means 
easy  to  find,  and  in  the  absence  of  such  a  one,  the  educa- 
tion is  most  inefficient ;  the  domestic  instructor  is  but  a 
single  person,  whereas  in  the  public  elementary  school  there 
are  a  number  of  teachers,  and  the  defects  of  one  will  be  com- 
pensated by  the  good  qualities  of  another ;  we  may  even  say 
that  the  defects  of  the  teachers  are  more  than  compensated 


The  Public  Elementary  School  187 

by  the  other  influences  of  the  public  elementary  school. 
Education  by  a  domestic  instructor  can  never  make  good 
for  the  child  the  lack  of  the  multiform  life  of  the  school, 
which  affords  so  admirable  a  preparation  for  later  life.  In 
the  school  there  are  many  children  who  compete  with  one 
another,  but  also  form  friendships  with  one  another.  How- 
ever questionable  it  may  be,  on  grounds  of  principle,  whether 
for  the  purposes  of  instruction  and  education  it  is  proper  to 
appeal  to  the  ambition,  competitive  zeal,  and  envy  of  children, 
yet  we  have  to  admit  that  so  long  as  the  present  order  of 
society  continues,  based  upon  individualism  and  free  com- 
petition, it  is  absolutely  essential  that  children  should  be  pre- 
pared for  individualism  and  free  competition.  If  the  domestic 
instructor  gets  on  friendly  terms  with  the  child,  his  authority 
is  apt  thereby  to  be  undermined ;  but  if  he  remains  on  purely 
formal  terms,  he  risks  the  repression  of  the  child's  individuality. 
Friction  between  parents  and  domestic  instructors  is  almost 
inevitable.  Education  in  the  public  elementary  school  costs 
far  less  per  child  than  domestic  instruction,  and  this  saving  is 
advantageous,  not  to  the  individual  only,  but  from  the  stand- 
point of  public  economy.  It  is  altogether  opposed  to  the 
interest  of  public  economy  that  each  child  should  have  a 
separate  teacher;  that  certain  work,  which  can  be  properly 
performed  by  a  certain  number  of  teachers,  should  be  done 
in  such  a  way  as  to  need  ten  times  that  number  of  teachers. 
To  do  this  is  to  waste  time  and  energy  which  in  the  interest 
of  public  economy  might  be  much  better  employed.  When 
some  children  are  educated  at  home  and  others  in  the  public 
elementary  school,  the  two  classes  of  children  have  entirely  a 
different  education,  and  this  can  only  tend  to  accentuate  class 
contrasts,  which  are  already  excessive. 

The  General  Obligation  of  School  Attendance. — The  economic 
order  of  to-day,  based  as  it  is  upon  free  competition,  should 
impose  like  conditions  upon  all  the  competitors  in  the  economic 
struggle.  We  cannot  speak  of  free  competition  unless  all  the 
competitors  start  from  scratch ;  in  a  system  of  free  competition 
all  should  start  with  the  same  educational  opportunities.  A& 
time  goes  on  the  desire  becomes  ever  more  general  that  every 
member  of  the  community  should  secure  a  certain  minimum 


1 88  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

of  education ;  and  it  is  felt  that  the  State  is  not  merely  justi- 
fied but  obliged  to  secure  this  minimum  for  all.  Thus  it 
becomes  continually  more  important  that  every  adult  should 
have  this  elementary  minimum  of  education.  The  existing 
economic  order  is  based  upon  a  general  knowledge  of  writing 
and  reading.  One  unable  to  read  or  write  is  hardly  in  a 
position  to  safeguard  his  most  elementary  interests.  He 
should  also  know  the  first  principles  of  arithmetic,  inas- 
much as  to-day  the  value  of  all  commodities  is  expressed 
in  multiples  of  the  monetary  unit.  The  State  is  well  aware 
that  compulsory  education  involves  a  limitation  of  personal 
freedom  and  an  interference  with  family  life ;  but  none  the 
less  the  modern  State  finds  it  necessary  to  insist  that  every 
child  shall  receive  a  minimum  of  education. 

The  State  imposes  the  duty  upon  those  responsible  for 
the  care  of  the  child,  of  sending  this  child  to  the  public 
elementary  school  from  the  age  of  six  to  the  age  of  fifteen, 
or,  in  default  of  this,  of  giving  the  child  an  equivalent  educa- 
tion at  home.  On  the  one  hand,  the  State  itself  institutes 
public  elementary  schools ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  State 
gives  to  the  various  religious  organisations,  to  the  local  autho- 
rities, and  to  private  individuals,  the  right  to  found  and  carry 
on  elementary  schools,  with  the  proviso  that  in  these  schools 
children  shall  receive  the  same  education  (neither  more  nor 
less)  as  in  the  State  schools.  Thus,  the  State  has  no  con- 
cern as  to  what  education  the  child's  relatives  may  think 
desirable,  but  exercises  compulsion  to  secure  the  adoption 
of  its  own  educational  standard,  either  by  inflicting  penal- 
ties if  the  child  does  not  attend  school,  or  even  by  removal 
of  the  child  for  compulsory  education  away  from  home. 

But  the  so-called  general  obligation  of  school  attendance 
is  not  really  general,  and  applies  exclusively,  or  almost  ex- 
clusively, to  the  lower  classes  of  the  population.  The  other 
classes  can  evade  the  obligation  of  school  attendance  by  having 
their  children  educated  at  home.  The  proletarian  parents 
are  well  aware  that  the  elementary  school  teaches  neither  in 
matter  nor  in  manner  in  accordance  with  proletarian  con- 
ceptions; but  at  present  they  have  to  submit.  The  duty 
of  universal  school  attendance  is  not  very  strictly  enforced. 


The  Public  Elementary  School  189 

Even  in  the  most  highly  civilised  countries,  a  certain  pro- 
portion of  children  of  school  age  receive  no  elementary  educa- 
tion. In  many  countries  the  universal  obligation  of  school 
attendance  exists  only  on  paper.  The  conditions  in  this  re- 
spect are  especially  bad,  on  the  one  hand,  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts (where,  therefore,  the  proportion  of  illiterates  is  much 
greater  than  in  the  towns),  and,  secondly,  in  districts  where 
there  is  a  great  demand  for  labour.  The  principle  of  uni- 
versal compulsory  school  attendance  is  not  accepted  without 
opposition.  It  is  resisted  by  many  proletarian  parents  who 
wish  their  children  to  engage  in  wage-labour  at  an  early  age, 
and  it  is  resisted  also  by  many  capitalists  who  think  they  could 
make  larger  profits  with  cheaper  labour. 

The  Purpose  of  the  Elementary  School. — To  enable  us  to 
answer  the  question,  what  is  the  purpose  of  the  public 
elementary  school,  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  first  be 
able  to  decide  what  is  the  purpose  of  education.  This  ques- 
tion is  not  educational  merely,  but  also  social  and  political. 
The  purpose  of  the  public  elementary  school  is  dependent 
at  any  particular  period  upon  the  general  characteristics  of 
that  period  ;  for,  first,  one  learns,  not  at  school,  but  in  life ; 
secondly,  the  dominant  authority  in  the  State  in  any  epoch 
wishes  to  instil  in  the  minds  of  the  young  whatever  "  virtues  " 
are  considered  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  the  power  of 
the  dominant  caste.  All  political  parties  consider  the  public 
elementary  school  to  be  extremely  important,  and  each  one 
of  them  wishes  to  use  this  institution  for  its  own  purposes. 
They  all  recognise  that  the  future  belongs  to  the  young,  that 
the  public  elementary  school  plays  the  leading  part  in  the 
education  of  the  young ;  and  each  party  sees  that  its  special 
aims  can  be  attained  only  by  the  education  of  individuals  to 
consider  that  these  aims  are  sacred  and  desirable.  The  ad- 
herents of  a  particular  political  tendency  therefore  oppose 
the  inculcation  in  the  public  elementary  schools  of  any  ten- 
dency adverse  to  their  own,  but  they  regard  it  as  self-evident 
that  their  own  views  ought  to  be  inculcated  in  the  elementary 
school. 

Instruction  versus  Education. — Many  persons  contend  that 
the  aim  of  the  school  is  not  so  much  education  as  instruction. 


190  Ele7nents  of  Child- Protection 

They  consider  that  the  main  factor  in  education  is  not  the 
school,  but  the  family.  But  this  is  certain,  that  even  in  the 
school  which  thinks  only  of  instructing  its  pupils,  education 
in  the  wider  sense  is  effected.  In  school  life,  in  school 
friendships,  in  the  sense  of  solidarity,  in  the  friendly  com- 
petition between  schoolfellows,  in  the  necessity  to  learn,  are 
embodied  powerful  educative  influences.  It  is,  in  fact,  essential 
that  the  school  should  educate  as  well  as  instruct.  The  public 
elementary  school  of  to-day  makes  therefore  a  very  great 
mistake  if  it  insists  on  intellectual  rather  than  on  moral 
education,  and  upon  instruction  rather  than  upon  education. 

Moral  Instruction. — According  to  the  views  of  education- 
alists, it  is  the  aim  of  the  public  elementary  school  to  educate 
children  to  be,  (a)  religious,  (&)  patriotic,  (c)  obedient,  {d^ 
humble,  (e)  subordinate  citizens.  The  elementary  school  of 
to-day  does  in  fact  mainly  subserve  these  ends. 

(a)  Religious  instruction  and  the  inculcation  of  the  fear  of 
God  are  no  proper  part  of  the  work  of  the  public  elementary 
school.  Among  all  the  factors  of  education,  it  is  certainly 
not  the  public  elementary  school  which  should  undertake  this 
branch  of  instruction. 

(&)  The  public  elementary  school  has  to  teach  children  to 
love  their  country ;  but  this  should  on  no  account  be  done  in 
such  a  way  as  to  inspire  hatred  for  other  countries. 

(c)  The  old  elementary  schools  taught  obedience  and  sub- 
ordination. But  to-day,  when  the  conditions  are  quite  different 
from  those  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  public  elementary  school 
should  do  nothing  of  the  kind,  but  should  rather  teach  inde- 
pendent judgment,  promptness  of  action,  and  soundness  of 
decision.  The  public  elementary  school  is  a  public  institution 
like  the  (State)  railway  and  the  post  office,  and  compulsory 
school  attendance  is  a  civic  duty  analogous  to  the  duty  of 
military  service.  But  it  is  necessary  to  protest  most  energeti- 
cally against  the  inference  sometimes  drawn  from  the  analogy 
between  the  two  last-named  duties,  that  the  elementary  school 
should  be  the  preparatory  school  to  the  barrack,  and  the 
barrack  a  sort  of  continuation  school  to  the  elementary  school 
— against  the  doctrine  that  children  should  be  disciplined  to 
a  blind  obedience.     We  must  carefully  avoid  overestimating 


The  Public  Elementary  School  191 

the  importance  of  discipline.  The  school  must  and  does  use 
compulsion.  Discipline  is  an  important  means  of  elementary 
school  education,  and  such  education  is  unthinkable  without 
discipline.  But  children  are  sufl&ciently  disciplined  by  mere 
attendance  at  school  for  a  certain  time. 

{d)  The  following  idea  is  very  generally  diffused,  that  it  is 
the  aim  of  the  school  to  prepare  children  for  the  life  they  will 
have  to  lead  when  they  are  grown  up.  Most  of  the  children 
attending  the  public  elementary  schools  will  become  prole- 
tarians, wage-workers.  Since  the  proletarian  must  be  diligent, 
thrifty,  humble,  disciplined,  it  is  regarded  as  the  duty  of 
the  elementary  school  to  inculcate  these  virtues.  But  these 
so-called  virtues  are  not  virtues  at  all.  The  greatest  obstacle 
to  any  improvement  in  the  lot  of  the  average  wage-earner 
is  that  he  should  be  content  with  thmgs  as  they  are.  The 
labourers'  wage  represents  the  minimum  that  he  finds  requisite 
to  the  satisfaction  of  his  needs ;  when  his  needs  increase,  his 
wages  rise.  Every  friend  of  social  progress  should  endeavour 
to  secure  that  the  elementary  school  should  arouse  in  the 
children  certain  needs  and  desu-es. 

{e)  Many  persons  wish  to  utilise  the  public  elementary 
school  to  turn  children  away  from  socialist  ideas.  This  is  to 
be  done  by  making  the  children  acquainted  with  the  dangers 
which  the  realisation  of  socialist  theories  would  involve,  and 
in  addition  by  inculcating  in  the  children  the  afore-mentioned 
virtues.  But  the  attainment  of  this  end  is  less  easy  than 
such  persons  imagine.  The  public  elementary  school  exercises 
a  certain  influence.  The  workman  who  has  received  at  school 
education  and  instruction  of  the  suggested  type  will  doubtless 
less  readily  become  an  enthusiastic  adherent  of  the  socialist 
party  than  the  workman  who  has  never  attended  an  elementary 
school,  and  who  was  an  illiterate  until  he  first  came  under  the 
influence  of  his  trade  union.  But  the  notions  inculcated  in 
the  public  elementary  school  in  respect  of  obedience,  humility, 
and  the  like  are  readily  eradicated  by  a  short  experience  of 
socialist  comradeship,  and  replaced  by  social-democratic  ideas. 

General  Culture. — It  is  by  no  means  one  of  the  aims  of  the 
public  elementary  school  to  provide  general  culture.  Even 
less  is  this  the  aim  of  education  than  it  is  the  aim  of  the 


192  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

public  elementary  school — and  tlie  provision  of  general  culture 
by  the  latter  would  appear  to  be  entirely  out  of  the  question. 
During  the  few  years  a  child  spends  at  the  public  elementary 
school,  it  is  impossible  to  attempt  to  impart  all  that  is  included 
in  the  wide  field  of  general  culture. 

Individuality. — A  large  proportion  of  those  pupils  with  a 
well-marked  individuality  can  develop  their  personality  even 
in  the  school.  The  tendency  of  the  school  is  in  many  cases 
to  rub  off  the  edges  and  corners  of  individuality.  But  it  is 
impossible  to  approve  of  the  extent  to  which,  in  the  public 
elementary  school  of  to-day,  the  children's  individuality  is 
repressed.  Our  present  elementary  schools  do  not  individualise 
enough.  Their  principal  aim  is,  not  so  much  to  provide  a 
sound  education,  as  to  force  all  the  pupils  through  the  same 
rigid  curriculum,  without  making  any  allowance  for  their 
various  special  aptitudes.  (For  what  good  end  is  it  that  the 
modern  educational  authority  should  regulate  every  detail  of 
school-life,  down  to  the  quality  and  price  of  the  articles  used 
in  class,  and  even  to  the  colour  of  the  manuscript  books 
and  the  precise  number  of  pages  they  are  to  contain  ?)  In 
the  elementary  school  of  to-day,  owing  to  the  large  size  of  the 
classes  and  the  small  number  and  defective  training  of  the 
teachers,  individualisation  is  impossible. 

Beauty. — The  school  must  not  indeed  attempt  to  make  all 
the  children  into  artists ;  but  the  children  must  most  certainly 
be  taught  to  understand  and  appreciate  beauty — that  is,  the 
arts.  Our  present  public  elementary  schools  are  extremely 
defective  from  this  point  of  view. 

Knowledge. — Knowledge  gives  the  individual  power,  and 
provides  him  with  a  powerful  weapon  in  the  struggle  for 
existence.  The  dominant  classes,  for  the  protection  of  their 
own  egoistic  interests,  keep  knowledge  for  themselves,  and 
refuse  to  provide  the  lower  classes  with  the  means  and 
weapons  for  their  liberation.  The  State  insists  upon  a  minimal 
quantity  of  knowlege  for  every  one  of  its  members,  because 
this  is  to  the  interest  of  the  community  and  of  the  upper 
classes.  But  since  to  impart  to  the  common  people  anything 
beyond  this  minimum  of  knowledge  would  threaten  the 
dominance  of  the  upper  classes,  or  would  at  any  rate  involve 


The  Public  Elementary  School  193 

pecuniary  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  and  since  it 
might  even  lead  to  the  liberation  of  the  lower  classes,  the 
functional  activity  of  the  public  elementary  schools  is  kept 
at  as  low  a  level  as  possible,  and  is  limited  as  much  as 
possible  both  intrinsically  and  extrinsically.  The  State  and 
the  upper  classes  devote  to  popular  education  only  such 
an  amount  as  is  found  to  be  absolutely  essential.  They 
are  well  aware  that  much  more  could  be  done  than  is  done 
in  the  way  of  popular  education ;  but  since  they  know  also 
that  this  would  redound  chiefly  to  the  advantage  of  the  lower 
classes,  they  propose  no  advance  upon  the  present  system. 
This  affords  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  fact  that  the 
modern  State  spends  so  much  less  upon  elementary  schools 
than  upon  middle  or  high  schools — that  is,  upon  institutions 
for  the  upper  classes,  and  why  the  State  spends  so  much 
less  upon  education  in  general  than  upon  other  things.  The 
budget  of  any  modern  State  would  exemplify  the  fact  that 
the  individualist  State  spends  at  least  five  times  as  much  for 
military  purposes  as  upon  elementary  education.  The  more 
complete  the  division  of  labour,  the  more  do  employers  tend  to 
utilise  the  services  of  unskilled  labourers — that  is,  the  services 
of  those  whose  work  is  of  such  a  character  that  all  they  need 
know  to  enable  them  to  perform  it  is  at  most  a  little  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic.  The  capitalists  have  no  use  for 
workmen  with  more  knowledge  than  this,  for  the  unskilled 
workers  are  cheaper.  The  owning  class  are  not  inclined  to 
make  sacrifices  to  enable  the  children  of  workpeople  to  learn 
more  in  the  elementary  school.  They  know  very  well  that 
to  do  this  would  merely  be  to  do  themselves  harm,  for  the 
more  the  workman  knows  the  more  readily  does  he  think 
independently,  the  more  critical  is  he,  and  the  more  readily 
does  he  recognise  the  defects  of  the  existing  social  order. 

Science. — The  modern  public  elementary  school  professes 
to  teach  children  science.  But  they  must  first  of  all  give 
their  pupils  desire  and  capacity  for  the  acquirement  of  science. 
It  should  not  be  their  aim  to  impart  to  the  child  the  elements 
of  any  particular  science,  but  rather  to  develop  a  capacity  for 
a  speedy  acquisition  of  the  knowledge  it  will  find  necessary  in 
the  course  of  its  life.     The  procedure  of  the  older  elementary 

N 


194  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

school  whicli  laid  stress  only  upon  memory  is  almost  com- 
pletely a  thing  of  the  past.  But  even  to-day  the  elementary 
schools  of  Europe  lay  most  emphasis  upon  the  exhibition  by 
their  pupils  of  extensive  knowledge,  and  this  involves  an 
overtaxing  of  the  memory  at  the  expense  of  the  powers  of 
thought.  The  elementary  schools  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  on  the  other  hand,  do  not  so  much  endeavour  to 
secure  that  a  certain  quantity  of  knowledge  should  be  imparted, 
they  do  not  so  much  insist  upon  thorough  instruction,  and 
strict  concentration  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  term,  as 
endeavour  to  effect  a  stimulated  interest  and  a  certain  degree 
of  orientation  in  all  departments  of  knowledge.  The  latter 
system  is  the  sounder.  But  a  certain  foundation  of  positive 
knowledge  is  absolutely  essential,  for  upon  this  foundation  is 
based  the  acquirement  of  all  the  knowledge  subsequently 
gained,  and  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  life.  The  modern 
elementary  school  teaches  much  and  many  things,  including 
much  that  is  altogether  superfluous,  but  what  the  children 
will  really  need  in  life  is  either  not  taught  at  all,  or  taught 
defectively  and  inefficiently.  Great  emphasis  is  laid  upon 
religion,  grammar,  and  history;  modern  science  is  compara- 
tively ignored ;  technical  instruction,  drawing,  natural  history, 
the  principles  of  morals,  political  economy,  and  legislation,  are 
neglected.  (It  is  through  the  neglect  of  the  last-mentioned 
that  it  results  that  man  is  perhaps  able  to  understand  his 
responsibilities  towards  his  Heavenly  Judge,  but  certainly  not 
towards  any  earthly  one.)  When  we  examine  the  teaching 
of  history  in  the  modern  elementary  school,  we  find  that  the 
pupils,  instead  of  acquiring  some  general  ideas  upon  universal 
history,  and  the  history  of  civilisation,  have  their  minds 
crammed  with  a  jingo  record  of  wars  and  dynasties,  a  mass 
of  dates  of  battles  and  other  trivial  incidents,  patriotic  anni- 
versaries, and  a  biassed  selection  of  anecdotes — all  this  having 
no  other  object  than  to  bring  the  children  up  as  jingoes  and 
anti-socialists. 

Home  Worli. — The  idea  that  children  must  have  no  home 
work  to  do,  and  that  they  should  do  all  their  work  at  school,  is 
an  exaggerated  one.  But  the  fact  remains  that  the  tendency 
of  the  modern  elementary  school  is  to  overburden  children 


The  Public  Elementaiy  School  195 

with  home  work.  This  is  all  the  worse  because  the  work  at 
school  is  often  too  much  for  the  pupils,  and  to  add  home 
work  is  then  sheer  cruelty.  The  domestic  arrangements  in 
the  majority  of  proletarian  homes  are  so  exiguous,  that  it  is 
impossible  for  children  to  find  the  necessary  conveniences 
and  the  necessary  order  and  quiet  for  any  considerable  amount 
of  home  work. 

The,  Exclusion  of  Certain  Children. — In  the  public  ele- 
mentary schools  we  find  many  children  who  ought  not  to  be 
there — children,  for  example,  with  arrested  development, 
abnormal,  neglected,  &c.  If  in  any  class  there  are  many 
children  suffering  from  arrest  of  mental  development,  one 
of  two  things  may  happen — the  teacher  may  devote  special 
attention  to  them,  or  he  may  not.  In  the  former  case,  the 
progress  of  the  whole  class  is  hindered ;  in  the  latter  case, 
the  unfortunate  backward  children  fall  yet  farther  behind. 
Morally  neglected  children,  and  children  with  criminal  ten- 
dencies, should  be  removed  from  the  school,  or  they  will 
corrupt  the  other  children.  But  if  they  are  excluded,  we 
have  to  fear  that  we  are  depriving  them  of  their  last  chance 
of  improvement,  and  that  they  will  become  more  neglected 
than  ever.  To-day  we  find  that  there  is  a  most  deplorable 
increase,  above  all  in  the  large  towns  and  manufacturing 
centres,  in  the  number  of  children  who  habitually  evade  school 
attendance  or  play  truant  from  school,  idle  about  through  the 
days,  and  then,  after  school  hours,  and  in  fear  of  punishment, 
keep  also  away  from  home.  It  has  been  proved  that  the 
great  majority  of  these  habitual  truants  are  feeble-mmded  to 
a  degree,  and  for  this  reason  tend  to  adopt  a  vagabond  life. 
If  such  a  child  is  excluded  from  school,  it  legally  attains  the 
condition  of  liberation  from  the  obligation  of  school  attendance 
which  it  had  previously  attained  illegally  though  in  actual 
fact.  Chiefly  in  consequence  of  the  inadequate  psychological 
training  of  the  teachers,  feeble-mindedness  and  other  mental 
and  moral  abnormalities  in  children  are  apt  to  be  overlooked. 
It  is  desirable  that  all  teachers  should  receive  a  far  more 
thorough  training  in  the  psychology  of  education  than  has 
hitherto  been  customary.  It  is  necessary  that  for  weak-minded 
children,  or  for  those  who  are  in  other  respects  backward  or 


196  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

abnormal,  special  schools,  or  in  great  educational  institutions, 
special  classes  (disciplinary  classes),  should  be  founded.  Of 
late  years  a  start  has  been  made  in  this  direction. 

Rewards  and  P^inishmcnts. — In  the  public  elementary  school 
of  to-day,  sound  methods  and  principles  in  the  matter  of 
rewards  and  punishments  find  but  little  application.  Corporal 
punishment  is  freely  used,  and  in  many  cases  the  children  are 
grossly  ill-treated.  In  the  United  States  of  America,  the 
general  experience  has  been  that  in  schools  in  which  corporal 
punishment  is  unknown,  better  results  are  obtained  and  a 
higher  general  level  is  reached  than  in  schools  in  which 
corporal  punishment  is  customary.  The  mere  knowledge  that 
they  are  liable  to  such  degrading  punishment  suffices  to  lower 
the  children's  morale,  whereas,  when  they  feel  themselves 
absolutely  secure  from  the  risk  of  such  punishment,  they  feel 
themselves  from  the  first  to  be  honoured  and  respected.  In 
the  better  elementary  schools  of  the  United  States  corporal 
punishment  is  in  fact  unknown. 

The  Constitutional  Element. — In  the  order  of  the  modern 
school  no  constitutional  element  is  recognised ;  the  teacher  is 
an  absolute  ruler,  and  the  pupils  are  subjects  without  rights. 
But  this  system  is  not  one  fitted  to  prepare  the  children  for 
democratic  social  and  political  life.  In  the  United  States  of 
America  some  of  the  elementary  schools  have  a  method  of 
government  which  is  quasi-parliamentary  in  character.  It 
is  desirable  to  introduce  this  system  into  Europe,  although 
certain  modifications  may  be  necessary.  The  relationship 
between  teacher  and  pupil  should  be  as  follows.  The  teacher 
does  not  work  solely  by  authority.  He  explains  in  all  cases 
the  reasons  for  his  commands  and  prohibitions ;  he  recognises 
and  admits  his  own  mistakes,  treats  his  pupils  as  equals,  and 
makes  common  cause  with  the  well-behaved  children  to  keep 
the  ill-behaved  in  order ;  just  as  in  the  education  of  the 
individual  we  counteract  the  morbid  elements  in  the  dis- 
position by  cultivating  the  healthy  elements,  so  in  his  school 
the  teacher  uses  the  good  elements  to  counteract  the  bad 
ones.  By  making  common  cause  with  the  well-behaved 
children  against  the  ill-behaved,  he  induces  the  former  to 
become  unconsciously  the   instructors   and   educators  of  the 


The  Public  Elementary  School  197 

latter.  He  endeavours  to  effect  the  growth  among  the 
children  of  a  public  opinion,  which  shall  warn  transgressors 
and  prescribe  their  punishment.  He  must  also  utilise  free 
discussion  among  his  pupils  as  a  means  of  stimulation  and 
instruction.  (Parents  should  emploj^  much  the  same  methods 
in  the  upbringing  of  their  own  children.) 

Parents  and  the,  School. — The  view  that  the  teacher  need 
concern  himself  about  the  child  only  so  long  as  the  latter  is 
within  the  four  walls  of  the  school,  and  that  he  is  justified  in 
completely  ignoring  all  that  happens  to  the  child  outside  the 
school,  is  utterly  false,  and  must  be  abandoned.  To-day  a 
question  which  attracts  much  attention  is  how  parents  may 
be  induced  to  support  the  teacher.  In  this  respect  the 
conditions  in  Europe  are  worse  than  those  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  In  Europe  parents  commonly  rejoice 
when  the  school  takes  the  burden  of  children  off'  their  hands. 
Many  teachers,  on  the  other  hand,  are  instinctive  bureaucrats, 
who  regard  it  as  wrong  for  the  parents  to  exert  any  influence 
whatever  upon  the  teacher's  relationship  to  his  pupils.  Quite 
recently  the  following  view  has  begun  to  prevail — that  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  parents  to  send  their  children  to  the  lowest 
class  of  the  elementary  school  with  such  a  grounding  that  the 
teacher  may  readily  proceed  to  build  thereon;  the  parents 
should  remain  throughout  in  contact  with  the  teachers.  This 
contact  may  be  of  a  manifold  kind :  the  teachers  keep  the 
parents  acquainted  with  all  the  important  details  of  the  course 
of  instruction,  and  at  voluntary  evening  reunions  explain  to 
the  parents  the  concrete  problems  of  education.  We  can 
approve  the  conduct  neither  of  those  parents  who  always 
uphold  the  teacher  against  their  children,  nor  of  those,  on  the 
other  hand,  who  always  abuse  the  teacher  to  the  child.  The 
former  procedure  brings  the  children  up  as  slaves,  the  latter 
undermines  the  foundations  of  the  respect  which  every  teacher 
should  inspire  in  his  pupils. 

Sexv/d  Education. — A  thorough  reform  of  sexual  educa- 
tion is  absolutely  essential.  1.  The  question  of  co-education 
does  not  properly  belong  to  this  work,  and  can  be  touched 
on  merely  in  passing.  In  the  public  elementary  schools 
almost  all  over  the  world  co-education  is  the  rule ;  elemen- 


198  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

tary  schools  for  one  sex  only  are  exceptional/  2.  The 
Church  regards  the  sexual  life  as  something  essentially 
immoral,  of  which  the  child  is  to  know  nothing  whatever. 
Its  motto  is :  Silence.  The  earlier  elementary  schools, 
owing  to  their  intimate  dependence  on  the  Church,  shared 
this  view.  The  sexual  enlightenment  of  children  is  recom- 
mended especially  by  the  advocates  of  the  emancipation 
of  women.  The  question  is  even  more  important  to  women 
than  it  is  to  men,  since  the  right  solution  of  the  sexual 
problem  will  entail  for  women  greater  advantages  than 
for  men. 

The  sexual  enlightenment  of  children  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  the  following  reasons,  (a)  The  sexual  life  conceals 
many  dangers  for  the  child,  and  the  latter  will  better  be  able 
to  guard  against  those  dangers  if  he  is  aware  of  their  exist- 
ence. No  one  has  the  right  to  put  a  sharp  knife  in  a  child's 
hand  without  pointing  out  the  dangers  of  the  weapon.  But 
the  forces  of  the  sexual  life,  when  ill-understood  and  ill- 
controlled,  are  far  more  powerful  and  far  more  dangerous  than 
the  sharpest  knife.  He  who  will  learn  to  walk  and  to  run 
must  risk  stumbling  and  falling,  and  no  one  can  learn  to 
swim  without  swallowing  a  little  water.  (6)  That  which  is 
half-concealed  is  far  more  stimulating  than  that  which  is 
revealed.  If  children  are  not  properly  enlightened  concern- 
ing the  sexual  life,  they  become  accustomed  to  regard  matters 
of  sex  solely  from  the  standpoint  of  personal  desire  and 
personal  enjoyment,  and  to  regard  the  sexual  life  and  the 
other  sex  as  something  hateful  and  despicable.  (c)  If  the 
child  receives  no  enlightenment  concerning  the  sexual  life, 
its  confidence  in  its  teacher  and  its  relatives  is  necessarily 
undermined.  How  shall  a  child  retain  confidence  in  those 
who  give  it  no  advice  in  a  matter  in  which  the  need  of  advice 
is  so  urgently  felt  ?  Can  the  child  be  expected  to  follow 
their  advice  in  other  departments  of  life,  when  in  this  depart- 
ment it  receives  bad  advice  or  none  at  all  ?  Can  a  child  give 
confidence  to  its  elders  in  other  matters,  when  in  this  matter 
it  is  fobbed  off  with  lies  and  fables  ? 

The  following  arguments  are  adduced  against  the  sexual 
'  England  lags  behind  the  rest  of  the  world  in  this  matter. — Translator. 


The  Public  Elementary  School  199 

enlightenmeut  of  children,  (a)  It  is  better,  supposing  that 
the  sexual  impulse  has  not  yet  awakened  in  a  child,  that 
nothinsf  should  be  done  to  direct  its  attention  to  the  sexual 
life.  (5)  The  enlightenment  of  children  is  a  very  difficult 
matter,  and  is,  in  fact,  hardly  practicable. 

The  former  of  these  arguments  is  not  altogether  ground- 
less. But  in  present  conditions  silence  is  impossible,  and  it  is 
better  that  the  child  should  obtain  its  information  from  a 
pure  and  trustworthy  source.  With  regard  to  the  alleged 
difficulty  of  effecting  the  sexual  enlightenment,  recent  experi- 
ence shows  that  the  requisite  instruction  can  be  suitably  and 
inconspicuously  introduced  into  the  natural  history  lessons, 
and  adapted  to  the  age  and  intelligence  of  the  child,  without 
any  excessive  detail  being  attempted.  The  stress  has  to  be 
laid,  not  upon  enlightenment  as  to  the  processes  of  sexual 
conjugation,  nor  upon  detailed  instruction  as  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  human  embryo,  but  rather  upon  a  mainly 
hygienic  enlightenment  concerning  the  dangers  attendant 
upon  sexual  intercourse. 

Should  the  sexual  enlightenment  of  children  be  the  work 
of  the  school,  or  should  it  be,  as  many  insist,  the  duty  either 
of  the  parents  or  the  medical  adviser  ?  The  co-operation  of 
parents  and  medical  adviser  is  certainly  indispensable,  but  the 
principal  part  in  the  work  of  enlightenment  belongs  to  the 
school.  One  of  the  main  difficulties  in  sexual  enlightenment  by 
the  parents  depends  upon  the  fact  that  the  majority  of  parents 
lack  the  requisite  ability  and  the  requisite  biological  knowledge. 
Of  late  the  schools  have  actually  begun  to  undertake  this  work  of 
the  sexual  enlightenment  of  children.  It  is  unquestionably  the 
tendency  of  evolution  that  the  sexual  enlightenment  of  children 
up  to  a  certain  point  should  be  effected  in  the  school. 

Beligious  and  Moral  Instruction. — It  remains  undecided 
whether  the  public  elementary  school  of  to-day  was  of 
ecclesiastical  origin.  But  it  is  an  unquestionable  fact  that 
from  the  first  the  Church  exercised  a  great  influence  upon 
the  public  elementary  school,  and  that  the  Church  continues 
to  struggle  for  the  spread  of  its  own  ideas  through  the  inter- 
mediation of  the  schools.  The  influence  of  the  Church 
secures,   not    merely   that    religion   shall   be    taught    in    the 


200  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

schools,  but,  in  addition,  that  in  the  teaching  of  other 
matters,  the  ecclesiastical  spirit  shall  have  free  play.  This 
explains  the  fact  that  the  teaching  of  natural  science  has 
been  neglected  in  the  schools,  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
antagonistic  to  religion.  The  alleged  necessity  of  religious 
teaching  is  based  upon  the  assertion  that  by  such  teaching 
children  are  guided  in  the  paths  of  morality.  But  as  religious 
instruction  as  at  present  administered,  it  is  by  no  means 
adapted  to  produce  this  effect.  To  teach  children  difficult 
ethical  concepts  in  an  abstract  form,  and  to  make  them 
commit  these  abstract  formulations  to  memory,  is  a  mode 
of  ill-usage.  We  cannot  teach  a  child  to  be  moral  by 
preaching  to  it  a  great  deal,  and  by  telling  it  many  moral 
and  religious  stories  and  drawing  for  it  many  moral  and 
religious  conclusions,  unless  we  take  pains  at  the  same  time 
to  find  associations  within  the  child's  own  circle  of  interests 
for  the  ideas  we  are  endeavouring  to  impart.  It  is  impossible 
to  induce  in  a  child  the  habit  of  moral  conduct  by  purely 
intellectual  demonstrations,  in  connection  with  which  the 
child's  interest  in  the  processes  and  situations  of  the  relation 
is  perhaps  wilfully  mistaken  for  a  desire  to  imitate  the  actions 
that  are  described.  Moreover,  in  the  religions  that  are  taught 
in  the  modern  public  elementary  schools,  we  find  reflected  the 
moral  conceptions  of  days  long  past  —  conceptions  whose 
interest  is  now  historical  merely.  These  religions  deal  only 
with  the  morals  of  adult  persons — their  examples  relate  only 
to  adults;  whereas  the  sound  moral  instruction  of  young 
people  must  pay  attention  above  all  to  the  numerous  little 
needs  and  passions  of  the  child.  Religion  and  morality  are 
two  altogether  dift'erent  things.  A  knowledge  of  Bible  history 
and  of  religious  dogmas  cannot  make  anyone  more  moral. 
There  are  many  countries  in  which  we  find  that  the  extent 
of  immorality  is  directly  proportional  to  the  extent  to  which, 
in  the  various  areas,  a  religious  spirit  prevails.  Our  general 
conclusion,  therefore,  is  that  the  public  elementary  school 
should  not  be  founded  upon  a  religious  basis,  and  that  it 
should  not  undertake  to  give  religious  instruction.  The 
standpoint  of  France,  formerly  so  religious  a  country,  is 
thoroughly  sound.     The  principle  of  religious  liberty  allows 


The  Public  Elementary  School  201 

everyone  to  profess  whatever  religion  he  pleases.  It  is  a 
logical  corollary  of  this  principle  that  the  public  elementary 
school,  which  is  open  to  all,  should  be  neither  religious  nor 
anti-religious ;  that  is  to  say,  that  it  should  be  a  secular,  lay, 
neutral  school,  and  that  religious  instruction  should  be  left  to 
the  parents. 

But,  in  view  of  these  considerations,  it  is  all  the  more 
necessary  to  provide  for  special  moral  instruction  in  the  public 
elementary  school.  It  is  not  a  valid  objection  to  say  that 
ethics  are  too  difficult  for  children ;  in  this  matter  everything 
depends  upon  how  they  are  taught.  Evidently  moral  teaching 
will  be  effective  only  if  the  right  educational  methods  are 
employed,  and  it  cannot  be  said  that  this  has  hitherto  been 
the  case  to  any  considerable  extent.  Moral  instruction  must 
not  consist  in  mere  repetition  of  ethical  principles,  but  must 
be  a  lesson  of  a  very  practical  order ;  it  must  not  be  a  dry 
enumeration  of  duties,  but  an  introduction  to  the  realities  of 
social  life,  the  aim  of  moral  instruction  being  to  teach  the 
pupil  sound  views  of  life,  and  to  lead  him  to  regulate  all  his 
thoughts  and  all  his  activities  with  reference  to  their  "  social 
reaction."  The  introduction  of  ethical  problems  and  moral 
outlooks  into  the  instruction  given  in  other  branches  of  study 
is  also  necessary,  and  may  indeed  begin  at  once,  for  this  offers 
no  difficulties.  But  it  is  also  absolutely  essential  that  moral 
questions  should  receive  a  comprehensive  and  connected  con- 
sideration in  a  special  course  of  lessons.  For  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  moral  instruction  has  been  given  in  the 
elementary  schools  of  the  United  States  and  of  France.  In 
France  this  course  of  lessons  is  used,  not  merely  as  an  instru- 
ment in  the  campaign  against  clericalism  and  monarchism, 
but  also,  quite  wrongly,  as  a  means  for  the  cultivation  of 
jingoism. 

Physical  Education. — The  modern  public  elementary  school, 
in  pursuit  of  mental  education,  neglects  not  moral  education 
only,  but  physical  education  also,  by  condemning  the  child  to 
prolonged  physical  inactivity.  As  soon  as  a  child  is  barely 
six  years  of  age,  it  is  forced  to  sit,  day  by  day  for  many  hours, 
stiff"  and  quiet,  on  the  narrow  benches  in  the  class-rooms, 
although    such    repression   of    the   childish    instinct    towards 


202  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

incessant  activity  is  injurious  to  the  health.  The  child  is 
overburdened  mentally,  the  school  curriculum  being  over- 
loaded with  subjects,  and  a  bad  system  of  instruction  being 
employed.  The  gymnastic  lesson  of  to-day  consists  mainly  of  the 
comparatively  useless  exercises  of  the  parade-ground  type,  and 
in  the  country  schools  even  these  are  neglected.  Well-grounded 
complaints  about  all  these  defects  are  incessantly  heard.  The 
results  are  disastrous.  Imbecility  and  mental  hebetude  may 
ensue ;  there  even  exist  special  diseases  of  school  life,  such 
as  nervous  debility,  headache,  lateral  curvature  of  the  spine, 
short-sightedness,  jaundice,  &c.  Bad  air,  dust  in  the  class- 
rooms, interference  with  free  breathing  consequent  upon  long- 
continued  sitting,  and  catching  cold  on  the  way  home  from 
school,  favour  the  acquisition  of  tuberculosis. 

Of  late  satisfactory  efforts  for  the  reform  of  school  hygiene 
have  been  initiated.  On  the  one  hand,  the  attempt  is  made 
to  secure  that  school  life  should  not  entail  any  dangers  to  the 
child's  health ;  on  the  other  hand,  efforts  are  made  to  provide 
proper  treatment  for  the  various  disorders  that  prevail  among 
the  children,  and  especially  among  the  younger  ones;  the 
physical  energies  and  adroitness  of  the  children  are  stimulated 
by  technical  instruction,  gymnastics,  and  free  movement  in 
the  open  air.  It  is  recognised  that  the  education  of  children 
should  take  place  mainly  in  the  open ;  that  not  natural  history 
only,  but  most  other  subjects,  should  be  taught  in  connection 
with  open-air  walks  and  excursions.  More  and  more  stress  is 
laid  upon  the  provision  of  playgrounds,  school  gardens,  and 
the  like.  School  gardens  are  already  to  be  found  in  many 
towns,  where  the  children  can  do  bodily  work  in  the  fresh  air 
— dig,  for  instance,  tend  flowers,  &c.,  occupations  which  have 
an  excellent  influence  upon  their  health.  Quite  recently  baths 
have  been  provided  in  many  schools,  and  sometimes  even  the 
use  of  these  baths  is  compulsory.  This  is  especially  valuable 
where  the  school  children  are  very  poor,  for  in  the  case  of  the 
very  poor,  as  is  well  known,  not  much  attention  is  paid  to 
cleanliness  in  the  children's  homes. 

In  every  progressive  State,  school  doctors  have  now  been 
appointed.  It  is  a  sound  principle  that  the  school  doctor 
should  not  be  engaged  in  private  practice,  but  that  he  should 


The  Public  Elementary  School  203 

also  be  physician  to  the  poor-law  authority.  The  institution 
of  the  school  physician  is,  however,  of  value  only  if  a  skilled 
and  detailed  examination  of  the  individual  children  is  under- 
taken, and  if  steps  are  taken  to  secure  that  the  medical  advice 
given  in  individual  cases  is  actually  carried  out.  In  many 
German  schools  provision  is  made  that  sick  children  without 
means  shall  be  sent  by  the  school  authorities  directly  to  the 
town  physicians  for  treatment.  In  some  of  these  schools, 
school  nurses  have  been  appointed,  who  supervise  the  carrying 
out  of  medical  instructions,  and,  when  necessary,  accompany 
the  children  in  their  visits  to  the  doctor.  The  tendency  of 
evolution  is  that  necessary  treatment  should  be  carried  out  by 
the  school  doctor.  For  some  years  past,  in  many  towns  in 
Germany,  dental  clinics  have  been  instituted  in  connection 
with  the  schools.  They  are  necessary  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
a  very  large  proportion  of  children  attending  the  public  ele- 
mentary schools  have  diseased  teeth ;  those  whose  parents  are 
poor  would  otherwise  receive  no  dental  treatment,  and  the 
proper  treatment  of  these  disorders  of  the  teeth  constitutes  an 
important  adjuvant  in  the  campaign  against  the  infectious  dis- 
eases and  in  the  prevention  of  tuberculosis.  Very  recently  the 
question  has  been  discussed  whether  tubercular  children  ought 
not  to  be  excluded  from  the  schools. 

Among  more  recent  movements  tending  towards  the  de- 
struction of  the  hegemony  of  the  towns,  we  find  an  attempt  to 
remove  the  schools  from  the  towns,  and  to  give  them  the 
form  of  boarding-schools,  with  an  attempt  to  provide  a  sort  of 
family  life,  much  stress  being  laid  upon  the  physical  education 
of  the  children.  Such  schools  are  to  be  found  in  England  and 
in  the  United  States  of  America  and  here  and  there  in  Ger- 
many. They  are  more  costly  than  the  others,  and  the  attempt 
to  reproduce  in  them  a  kind  of  family  life  is  apt  to  be  a 
failure.  For  children  sufifering  from  physical  debility  they  are 
extremely  useful,  and  they  offer  a  valuable  field  of  experiment 
for  teachers  who  wish  to  apply  exceptional  educational  ideas. 
Of  late,  also,  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  utilise  the  school 
in  the  campaign  against  tuberculosis,  alcoholism,  and  the 
venereal  diseases.  It  is  declared  to  be  absolutely  necessary 
that  the  children  should  receive  far  more  hygienic  instruction 


204  Eleme7its  of  Child-Protection 

than  has  hitherto  been  customary — of  course,  merely  as  an 
adjunct  to  the  other  branches  of  education. 

Manual  Training. — Loud  complaints  are  heard  to  the  effect 
that  the  elementary  school  fails  to  secure  a  general  and  har- 
monious development  of  the  bodily  and  mental  capacities  of 
the  child — that  it  merely  crams  the  child  with  certain  infor- 
mation, without  endeavouring  to  secure  that  it  shall  acquire 
knowledge  by  its  own  experience.  It  is  recognised  that  that 
knowledge  only  is  permanent  and  possesses  serious  moral 
influence  which  constitutes  an  indispensable  constituent  of 
general  culture;  and  it  is  understood  that  the  recognised 
defects  of  our  school  children  cannot  be  avoided  unless  we 
include  as  a  part  of  the  school  curriculum  a  sufficiency  of 
manual  training.  At  first  sight  it  may  seem  quite  impossible 
for  the  educationalist,  by  training  the  child  to  perform  certain 
suitable  bodily  movements,  constituting  the  elements  of  some 
particular  handicraft,  to  influence  that  child's  mental  or  moral 
development;  it  seems  impossible,  that  is  to  say,  that  to 
teach  the  child  a  handicraft  can  subserve  a  profoundly  im- 
portant educational  end. 

The  impulse  to  physical  activity  is  deep-seated  in  human 
nature,  and  is  irresistible.  It  is  present  in  every  healthy 
child.  It  is  an  aim  of  education  to  cultivate  the  proper 
manifestations  of  this  impulse ;  otherwise  it  is  very  apt  to 
take  the  form  of  some  bad  habit,  of  passionate  outbursts,  or  of 
destructiveness.  In  earliest  childhood  the  impulse  to  activity 
finds  complete  satisfaction  in  the  games  of  which  young  chil- 
dren are  so  fond.  The  irregular  and  mutable  activity  of  games 
must  gradually,  and  without  obvious  compulsion,  be  trans- 
formed into  a  regular  and  orderly  activity.  (Many  physicians 
insist  that  children  should  not  begin  to  learn  to  read  and  write 
until  they  are  nine  or  ten  years  old,  and  that  below  this  age 
their  only  instruction  should  be  manual.  The  reason  they 
give  for  this  demand  is  that  it  is  during  the  first  seven  years 
of  life  that  the  human  brain  grows  most  rapidly,  that  this 
organ  should  receive  very  gentle  treatment  during  this  period 
of  life,  and  that  all  risk  of  its  overstrain  by  one-sided  stimula- 
tion of  the  intelligence  must  be  carefully  avoided.) 

Manual  work   invariably   represents   an   attempt   to   gain 


The  Public  Elementary  School  205 

some  particular  end.  Every  such  end  is  made  up  of  various 
components ;  we  see  this  composite  character  most  clearly 
when  the  aim  of  the  work  is  to  achieve  some  definite  physical 
result,  such  as  the  putting  together  of  some  complex  body 
made  up  of  numerous  parts.  Such  work  as  this,  children 
usually  undertake  with  pleasure.  Since  the  final  aim  and 
the  constituent  aims  are  all  obvious,  the  child  sees  at  once 
that  it  is  continually  approaching  more  nearly  to  the  attain- 
ment of  the  ultimate  aim,  and  notes  with  delight  the  pro- 
gressive steps  achieved  towards  this  end.  (Self-esteem  is 
essentially  nothing  more  than  the  consciousness  on  the  part 
of  the  individual  of  his  capacity  for  producing  some  tangible 
result.)  Manual  work  is  interesting  even  to  the  naughtiest 
and  most  impatient  of  children.  It  arouses  and  increases 
will  power  and  desire  for  work;  satisfies  the  impulse  to 
activity;  forces  the  child  to  think  independently,  to  use 
its  perceptive  faculties,  to  be  practical.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  manual  work  plays  so  great  a  part  in  the  education  of 
intellectually  backward  and  neglected  children.  Manual 
training  gives  the  child  opportunity  for  productive  work,  and 
thus  prepares  it  for  its  subsequent  life.  Manual  training 
develops  in  the  child  precisely  those  faculties  which  it  will 
most  need  in  later  life,  namely,  conscientiousness,  precision, 
pleasure  in  its  work,  enterprise.  It  develops  the  hand  and 
the  eye,  the  two  most  important  organs  of  the  human  body, 
to  a  fuller  degree  than  can  be  effected  by  writing,  drawing, 
or  gymnastics ;  and  in  this  way  it  provides  the  child  with 
something  which  will  be  found  valuable  whatever  trade  or 
profession  may  ultimately  be  adopted.  It  thus  gives  the 
child  the  necessary  preparatory  training  for  every  subsequent 
occupation.  The  idea  that  the  growth  of  machine  industry 
has  rendered  manual  training  superfluous  is  utterly  erroneous. 
Manual  training  is  good  for  the  health  and  the  physical 
strength  of  the  child.  At  the  period  of  the  puberal  develop- 
ment, manual  training  is  of  especial  importance  to  children. 
It  has  a  quieting  influence  upon  the  brain  and  the  senses,  and 
distracts  the  child  from  morbid  and  sensual  impulses.  Through 
bringing  into  play  the  physiological  influence  of  fatigue,  it 
hinders  and  delays  the  awakening  of  the  sexual  impulse,  and 


2o6  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

does  nothing  to  direct  the  child's  attention  towards  the 
sexual  life. 

To-day  much  stress  is  laid  upon  training  the  perceptive 
faculties  by  means  of  object-lessons.  Manual  training 
affords  the  best  training  of  the  perceptive  faculties,  being 
even  more  valuable  in  this  respect  than  the  actual  object- 
lesson.  We  learn  to  know  an  object  fully  not  merely  by 
looking  at  it,  not  even,  in  addition,  by  handling  it,  smelling 
it,  tasting  it,  and  listening  to  it.  If  we  wish  to  know  an 
object  through  and  through,  we  must  work  upon  it. 

The  child  is  always  glad  to  engage  in  physical  work. 
Both  child  and  teacher  soon  learn  to  recognise  for  what 
the  child  has  inclination  and  talent.  The  child  will  then 
choose  for  its  life's  occupation  that  which  it  has  aheady 
learned  to  understand,  and  which  best  corresponds  to  its 
own  inclinations.  In  this  way  the  mistakes,  which  are  so 
common  to-day,  in  the  choice  of  an  occupation  will  be 
avoided,  and  the  almost  morbid  desire  of  children  for  a 
clerical  or  professional  career  will  be  mitigated.  Opportunity 
is  given  for  the  recognition  and  cultivation  of  any  special 
artistic  faculty  the  child  may  possess.  The  aim  of  education, 
namely,  to  awaken  and  cultivate  the  child's  natural  capacities 
and  inclinations,  can  only  be  attained  when  the  teacher 
recognises  their  existence,  and  is  able  to  form  a  correct 
picture  of  the  child's  mental  life.  But  the  teacher  will  not 
be  able  to  do  this  unless  he  sees  his  pupil  engaged  in  physical 
work  as  well  as  in  mental.  If  at  school  young  people  are 
exclusively  occupied  in  mental  work,  they  acquire  an  antipathy 
to  physical  work.  Manual  training,  on  the  other  hand,  teaches 
children  to  esteem  physical  labour  and  the  proletariat.  Any- 
one who  has  received  a  thorough  manual  training  necessarily 
possesses  mechanical  knowledge  and  skill.  Since  such  know- 
ledge and  skill  are  the  first  requisites  of  so  many  skilled 
handicrafts,  one  who  possesses  them  is  unlikely  to  become 
an  unskilled  labourer. 

Whereas  in  former  times  various  kinds  of  productive 
work  formed  part  of  the  economy  of  domestic  life,  so  that 
the  child  had  opportunities  for  seeing  and  learning  such 
occupations  in  its  own  home,  to-day  we  find  that  not  even 


The  Public  Elementary  School  207 

children's  toys  are  made  at  home,  but  are  bought  ready-made. 
Manual  training  is  also  advocated,  on  the  ground  that  it 
is  necessary  to  ensure  that  there  shall  be  an  adequate  supply 
of  skilled  manual  workers.  This,  we  are  told,  may  contribute 
to  keep  alive  the  lesser  industries  which  tend  to  disappear 
before  the  great  manufacturing  industry.  But  the  replace- 
ment of  handwork  by  the  work  of  machines  is  a  tendency 
of  evolution  which  no  one  has  the  power  to  arrest.  It  is 
not  truly  the  aim  of  manual  instruction  to  produce  skilled 
adult  manual  workers ;  we  advocate  it  simply  as  a  means 
of  education  which  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  technical 
education. 

Manual  training  must  be  carefully  adapted  to  the  child's 
age,  and  in  the  case  of  very  little  children  must  take  the 
form  rather  of  a  game.  Its  character  may  be  very  various : 
the  preparation  of  drawings  and  models,  experimentation 
with  tools,  the  construction  of  tools  or  other  useful  objects 
out  of  Avood,  clay,  dough,  iron,  &c.,  garden  work,  and  the 
like. 

Although  the  results  of  manual  training  are  so  remarkably 
good,  it  is  only  quite  recently  that  it  has  been  utilised  as 
a  means  of  education.  The  explanation  perhaps  is  that 
manual  work  being  all  done  by  slaves,  serfs,  body-servants, 
and  wage-labourers,  was  despised  by  the  upper  classes,  and 
for  this  reason  its  great  educational  value  was  so  long  over- 
looked. Ethical  and  educative  influences  are  so  completely 
lacking  to  wage-labour,  that  the  child  should  not  be  occupied 
in  wage-labour,  but  only  in  manual  work  of  an  educative 
influence  and  tendency.  Instruction  in  productive  work, 
involving  an  explanation  of  the  fundamental  methods  of 
the  production  of  commodities  and  habituation  to  the  use 
of  the  simpler  tools  must  form  a  part  of  education.  The 
attempt  to  extend  manual  training  expresses  the  general 
tendency  of  evolution.  The  elementary  schools  of  most 
civilised  countries  show  that  manual  training  can  be  readily 
introduced  into  the  elementary  school  curriculum.  Indeed,  in 
the  public  elementary  schools  of  many  countries,  manual 
training  is  now  compulsory,  especially  as  regards  instruction 
in  feminine  manual  occupations.     But  manual  training  cannot 


2o8  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

be  developed  to  the  fullest  extent,  nor  can  this  method  be 
expected  to  furnish  the  best  possible  results,  until  capitalist 
production  for  profit  has  been  replaced  by  social  production 
for  use. 

Preparatory  Schools. — What  we  said  about  creches  applies, 
though  with  some  differences,  to  preparatory  schools.  Children 
go  to  the  modern  elementary  school  at  a  comparatively  early 
age,  and  are  subjected  to  the  discipline  of  school  without  any 
preparatory  initiation.  Institutions  whose  aim  it  is  to  prepare 
children  for  the  life  of  the  public  elementary  schools  are 
known  as  preparatory  schools.  The  idea  that  before  the  age 
of  school-attendance  the  child  should  be  methodically  employed 
for  some  hours  daily,  that  the  occupation  should  be  phj^sical, 
and  that  the  work  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  appear  to  the 
child  as  a  kind  of  play,  is  not  a  new  one.  Alike  on  educa- 
tional and  on  social  grounds  it  is  certainly  desirable  that 
the  period  of  public  education  should  begin  earlier  than 
the  present  age  of  compulsory  school-attendance.  Such  is 
indeed  the  tendency  of  evolution,  and  in  Hungary  we  have 
already  advanced  far  in  this  direction. 

Supervised  Playgrounds  for  Children  {Kinderhorte). — With 
the  growth  of  capitalism  there  have  come  into  existence 
(though  somewhat  later  than  the  preparatory  schools)  super- 
vised playgrounds  for  children  {Kinderhorte)  to  provide  care 
and  training  out  of  school  hours  for  the  school  children 
whose  parents  work  away  from  home.  These  institutions 
may  be  associated  with  the  schools,  or  may  exist  independently ; 
there  may  be  separate  playgrounds  for  boys  and  for  girls, 
or  the  two  sexes  may  play  together.  In  the  United  States  of 
America  there  exist  "  Children's  Clubs "  for  school-children, 
which  differ  from  preparatory  schools,  inasmuch  as  their  main 
purpose  is  to  provide  entertainment. 

Increasing  Importance  of  the  Puhlic  Elementary  School. — The 
family  circle  in  which  the  proletarian  child  lives  tends,  as  a 
rule,  to  counteract  the  beneficial  effects  of  school  life.  Nor 
are  the  other  elements  in  the  environment  of  the  proletarian 
child  such  as  tend  to  exercise  a  good  educational  influence. 
For  this  reason  quite  recently  the  question  has  been  mooted 
how  the  school  may  best  counteract  the  evil  influences  of  the 


The  Public  Elementary  School  209 

family  and  tlie  environment.  As  time  goes  on  the  public 
elementary  school  becomes  ever  more  important,  its  circle  of 
duties  becomes  more  comprehensive,  and  it  undertakes  many 
elements  of  education  which  formerly  appertained  to  the  par- 
ental home  and  the  environment.  The  public  elementary 
school  and  the  associated  institutions  begin  to  exercise 
functions  outside  the  domain  of  education  in  the  narrower 
sense,  and  to  absorb  some  of  those  formerly  exercised  by 
the  poor  -  law  authorities,  inasmuch  as  the  schools  are 
coming  to  satisfy  other  needs  of  the  proletarian  child  in 
addition  to  the  need  for  education.  Consider,  for  example, 
the  association  with  the  public  elementary  school  of  prepara- 
tory schools,  supervised  playgrounds,  baths,  gardens,  workshops, 
savings-banks,  &c. 

Feeding  of  School  Children. — The  children  of  the  lower 
classes  are  to-day  quite  unable  to  pay  for  their  schooling. 
If  every  pupil  had  to  pay  school  fees,  a  strict  enforcement  of 
compulsory  school  attendance  would  involve  gross  injustice  to 
the  poorer  classes.  If  the  State  makes  school  attendance 
compulsory,  the  State  must  make  it  possible  for  every  child 
to  attend  school.  Many  children  fail  to  attend  school  because 
they  lack  proper  clothing,  and  especially  boots  and  shoes.  Is 
it  not  the  duty  of  the  education  authorities  to  provide  for 
poor  children  of  school  age  the  clothing  they  need  to  make  it 
possible  for  them  to  attend  school  ?  This  is  not  as  yet 
recognised  as  a  public  duty,  but  we  see  an  unmistakable 
movement  in  its  direction.  In  most  countries  public  ele- 
mentary education  is  already  free,  in  some  cases  for  all  the 
children,  in  others  only  for  the  poorest ;  school  materials  and 
books  are  as  yet  supplied  gratuitously  only  in  France,  Switzer- 
land, and  the  United  States  of  America. 

Is  it  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  public  elementary  school 
to  provide  food  for  the  pupils  ?  (Should  it  provide  a  dwell- 
ing ?  Even  those  whose  demands  are  most  extensive  ask 
merely  that  the  elementary  schools  should  provide  a  home 
for  the  child  during  the  day  time,  on  the  one  hand  during 
school  hours,  on  the  other  during  the  intervals.)  The  ques- 
tion of  the  feeding  of  school  children  was  first  mooted  by  the 
teachers  about  thirty  years  ago.     It  was  evident  that  a  smaller 

O 


2IO  Elonents  of  Child- Protection 

or  larger  proportion  of  the  children  attending  urban  schools 
(in  wealthier  towns  from  3  to  10  per  cent.,  in  the  suburbs 
of  large  towns  even  as  many  as  90  per  cent.)  were  unable 
to  derive  adequate  benefit  from  their  teaching  because  they 
were  underfed.  The  proletarian  mother  lacks  sufficient  time 
to  prepare  food  for  her  children,  especially  the  midday  meal. 
Few  workmen  earn  enough  to  provide  a  dietary  in  conformity 
with  hygienic  demands.  The  school  is  often  far  from  the  home, 
and  the  children  have  neither  time  nor  desire  to  return  home 
to  dinner.  The  need  is  especially  striking  during  the  winter 
months,  inasmuch  as  at  this  time  there  is  more  unemployment, 
Avhilst  it  is  precisely  at  this  season  of  the  year  that  hot  meals 
are  most  necessary.  Moreover,  whilst  it  is  simply  cruel  to 
force  half-fed  children  to  learn,  they  hinder  the  progress  of 
the  others.  It  is  objected  that  the  feeding  of  school  children 
conflicts  with  the  principle  of  parental  responsibility,  and  that 
it  impairs  the  intimacy  of  family  life,  which  demands,  as  all 
will  admit,  that  the  members  of  the  family  shall  meet  one 
another  at  least  at  meals.  Our  aim,  we  are  told,  should 
therefore  be  to  do  away  with  the  poverty  which  is  the 
cause  of  so  many  children  coming  to  school  underfed.  But 
school  feeding  may  be  so  arranged  that  the  parents  are 
charged  for  the  meals  at  cost.  Moreover,  it  is  proposed  to 
supply  only  breakfast  and  dinner — meals  which  many  prole- 
tarian parents  are  in  any  case  unable  to  take  at  home. 

School  feedinsf  can  be  combined  with  instruction  for  the 
girls  in  cooking  and  domestic  economy.  The  meals  may  be 
given  in  the  school,  which  is  the  best  plan,  or  in  special 
institutions.  The  feeding  of  school  children  must  be  kept 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  education  authorities ;  it  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  poor-law,  and  it  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  it  should  be  kept  completely  distinct  from  poor-law 
administration.  (Who  is  to  determine  the  children's  need — 
the  poor-law  authorities  or  the  school  ?  The  latter,  in  my 
opinion ;  but  this  cannot  always  be  done  ofF-hand — in  doubtful 
cases  a  house-to-house  visitation  will  be  necessary.) 

Quite  recently  it  has  been  claimed  that  the  feeding  of 
children  in  the  public  elementary  schools  should  be  entirely 
gratuitous — that  is  to  say,  that  food  should  be  provided  for 


The  Public  Elementmy  School  211 

well-to-do  as  well  as  for  necessitous  children.  This  claim  is 
supported  by  the  following  arguments :  (a)  It  is  a  logical 
consequence  of  universal  free  education  ;  (5)  if  school  meals 
are  provided  for  necessitous  children  only,  as  if  in  relief  of 
destitution,  then,  however  tactfully  this  may  be  done,  parents 
and  children  alike  feel  ashamed  and  suffer  from  a  loss  of  self- 
respect.  The  following  objections  are  made  to  these  views: 
(a)  Feeding  satisfies  a  natural  need,  education  a  need  peculiar 
to  civilised  man ;  (&)  it  is  possible  to  provide  a  suitable  diet 
in  the  family  circle,  but  not  to  provide  there  a  satisfactory 
education  ;  (c)  provided  the  feeding  of  the  children  is  general, 
no  one  need  be  ashamed,  if  those  parents  able  to  pay  have 
to  pay,  whilst  the  others  are  fed  gratuitously.  But  these 
objections  are  not  worth  further  consideration. 

There  is  not  as  yet  any  uniform  and  generally  accepted 
system  for  the  feeding  of  school  children;  we  find  such 
feeding  only  in  isolated  schools,  and  meals  are  provided  for 
necessitous  children  only.  The  actual  results  of  the  institu- 
tion have  been  admirable.  In  England,  a  law  providing  for 
the  feeding  of  school  children  was  passed  in  the  year  1906, 
But  this  did  not  introduce  a  general  national  system  of 
school  feeding;  the  law  was  permissive  merely,  empowering 
the  poor-law  authorities  and  education  authorities  to  organise 
private  benevolence  for  this  purpose,  and,  in  the  event  of  this 
latter  proving  insufficient,  allowing  a  limited  expenditure  of 
public  funds.  The  tendency  of  evolution  is  unquestionably 
in  the  direction  of  the  introduction  of  gratuitous  and  general 
school  feeding.  But  in  the  future,  when  the  upbringing 
of  children  will  be  altogether  better  than  it  is  to-day,  this 
institution  will  be  unknown. 

Care  of  Young  Persons  after  they  leave  School. — The  necessity 
and  importance  of  supervising  young  persons  after  they  leave 
school  are  obvious  from  the  fact  that  the  period  of  the  puberal 
development,  the  period  immediately  after  leaving  the  public 
elementary  school,  and  after  passing  from  the  family  life  to  a 
life  of  freedom,  is  the  most  dangerous  of  all  periods  in  the  life 
of  children  of  the  poorer  classes.  The  means  to  bo  employed 
for  this  purpose  are  the  following : — 

(a)  The  institution  of  special  homes  for  young  persons, 


212  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

where  those  with  no  regular  homes  of  their  own  can  board 
and  lodsre.  Connected  with  these  it  is  well  that  there  should 
be  employment  bureaux  and  lists  of  recommended  dwellings. 

(&)  The  institution  of  places  for  the  occupation  and  amuse- 
ment of  apprentices  and  young  workpeople  of  both  sexes 
during  their  hours  of  freedom. 

(c)  The  arrangement  of  occupation  for  Sundays,  amusing 
as  well  as  instructive. 

id)  The  organisation  of  the  young.  There  are  associations 
for  young  people  connected  with  the  various  religious  bodies, 
also  political  associations,  and  others  without  either  religious 
or  political  tendency ;  in  addition,  there  are  apprentices'  clubs. 
Within  the  ranks  of  the  socialists  we  find  two  opposing 
tendencies.  Some  wish  to  found  special  socialist  organisa- 
tions for  young  people ;  others  contend  that  better  work  can 
be  done  within  the  limits  of  existing  organisations.  The 
attempt  is  made  to  associate  these  movements  with  the 
continuation  schools;  that  is,  an  attempt  is  made  to  secure 
that  every  large  continuation  school  should  have  attached  to 
it  a  young  persons'  home  or  institute.' 

(e)  Advice  as  to  the  choice  of  a  profession,  in  newspapers, 
pamphlets,  and  books. 

(/)  The  conduct  of  a  campaign  against  harmful  books 
and  pictures.  This  campaign  has  of  late  years  aroused 
interest  and  obtained  support  in  wide  circles.  Of  especial 
importance  is  the  campaign  against  filthy  and  obscene  litera- 
ture, for  such  literature  has  of  late  years  gained  an  extra- 
ordinarily wide  diffusion,  and  effects  the  deliberate  corruption 
of  children.  It  stimulates  their  imagination  unnaturally  and 
leads  it  into  false  paths ;  it  destroys  their  sense  of  truth  and 
reality.  The  children's  taste  is  perverted;  they  no  longer 
find  pleasure  in  good  literature,  become  inattentive  in  class, 
and  out  of  school  hours  rough  and  brutal.  In  so  far  as 
children  buy  obscene  books  and  pictures  they  waste  their 
money.  The  most  important  measures  in  the  conduct  of 
this  campaign  are:  1.  Criminal  prosecutions;  2.  The  diffusion 
of  really  good  books  for  young  people;  3.  The  enlightenment 
of  children  and  their  parents  concerning  the  worthless  and 
injurious  character  of  the  bad  Uterature;    4.  The  reasonable 


The  Public  Elementary  School  213 

regulation  of  the  pupils'  activity  out  of  schools  hours,  whereby 
the  youthful  impulse  to  adventure  may  be  directed  in  the 
right  channels. 

{(j)  The  most  important  of  all  means  of  caring  for  young 
persons  after  they  leave  school,  and  one  which  supports  and 
reinforces  all  the  others  we  have  enumerated,  is  the  con- 
tinuation school.  1.  OAving  to  the  defective  character  of 
public  elementary  education,  it  is  necessary  that  it  should  be 
supplemented  by  continuing  the  child's  education  when  it  has 
passed  the  age  of  obligatory  school  attendance.  2.  Before 
the  child  enters  a  free  life,  what  it  has  learned  at  school, 
much  of  which  will  already  have  been  forgotten,  requires  to 
be  retaught ;  and  this  is  all  the  more  necessary  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  at  the  elementary  school,  where  the  child  was 
still  very  young  and  lacked  the  faculty  of  full  comprehension 
of  many  ideas,  it  could  not  receive  true  instruction  and 
enlightenment.  3.  The  period  of  the  passage  from  the  family 
life  and  from  the  elementary  school  into  a  life  of  freedom 
must  not  come  too  early,  and  requires  to  be  a  period  of  transi- 
tion, or  the  child  is  very  apt  to  fall  into  poverty  or  crime. 
4.  Since  apprenticeship  is  tending  to  pass  away,  it  is  necessary 
that  children  should  be  taught  the  elements  of  a  handicraft 
at  school.  Wage-earning  women  have,  as  a  rule,  had  neither 
apprenticeship  nor  technical  training,  so  that  they  become  un- 
skilled workers,  and  receive  even  smaller  wages  than  unskilled 
male  labourers.  5.  The  training  of  working-class  girls  in 
domestic  economy  is  extremely  defective.  Since  these  girls 
have  to  work  for  wages  while  still  very  young,  they  have 
neither  time  nor  desire,  nor  even  opportunity,  to  study  cooking 
and  housekeeping ;  in  a  working-class  family  possibilities  for 
the  study  of  domestic  economy  are  of  necessity  extremely 
limited,  because  so  much  of  what  is  bought  is  already  pre- 
pared, and  what  is  done  at  home  is  of  an  extremely  simple 
character.  The  working-class  mother,  engaged  throughout 
the  day  in  arduous  wage-labour,  has  neither  time  nor  capacity 
for  the  instruction  of  her  daughter,  so  that  the  girl  becomes 
habituated  to  idleness.  A  special  training  both  for  wage- 
labour  and  for  domestic  economy  is  requisite  for  girls,  and 
especially  for  those  of  the  proletariat. 


2  14  Elements  of  Child- Pj^otection 

All  these  arguments  combine  to  reinforce  the  need  for  the 
institution  of  continuation  schools.  It  is  not  the  aim  of  these 
schools  to  prepare  their  pupils  for  work  in  special  branches 
of  industry,  but  their  spirit  is  a  much  more  practical  one  than 
that  of  the  elementary  schools.  Almost  without  exception, 
they  are  purely  secular,  and  give  no  religious  instruction. 
They  must  lay  great  emphasis  upon  the  need  that  the  children 
should  be  habituated  to  care  regularly  for  their  bodies  and 
their  health.  In  addition  to  the  general  continuation  schools, 
there  exist  industrial  continuation  schools  or  schools  of  ap- 
prenticeship. The  former  are  mostly  in  the  hands  of  the 
education  authorities,  whilst  the  latter  are  controlled  by  the 
boards  supervising  commerce  and  industry  {Geiverbebehorden). 
In  agricultural  districts,  schools  of  this  latter  order  take  the 
form  of  schools  of  agriculture. 

The  advocates  of  the  emancipation  of  women  demand  the 
institution  of  continuation  schools  for  girls  in  especial.  Such 
schools  must  naturally  give  the  first  place  to  the  teaching  of 
domestic  economy ;  but  many  consider  that  they  should  also 
give  instruction  in  the  main  principles  of  education,  and 
especially  regarding  the  care  of  infants.  (Special  schools  of 
domestic  economy  and  of  cooking  already,  of  course,  exist.) 
Many  demand  that  these  subjects  should  receive  special 
attention  in  the  public  elementary  schools;  but  it  should 
suffice  here  if  in  the  teaching  of  other  subjects  the  bearing 
of  these  upon  domestic  economy  and  the  conduct  of  life 
is  explained,  in  so  far  as  this  comports  with  the  main 
object  of  the  course  of  instruction.  Objections  have  been 
raised  by  many  to  the  effect  that  the  girls  are  too  young 
to  be  taught  domestic  economy  to  any  good  purpose.  But 
experience  teaches  the  contrary.  The  results  of  teaching 
domestic  economy  have  been  so  satisfactory  that  it  is  proposed 
to  make  it  an  essential  part  of  the  curriculum. 

Continuation  schools  are  not  regarded  with  universal 
favour.  In  fact,  their  existence  offers  a  certain  hindrance 
to  the  exploitation  of  the  working  powers  of  the  young,  and 
this  is  disagreeable,  not  only  to  factory  owners  and  manual 
workers,  but  for  the  time  being  is  distasteful  to  many  prole- 
tarian  parents.     These    schools    turn    out   workers  who    can 


The  Public  Elementary  School  215 

compete  successfully  witli  the  older  generation  of  unskilled 
labourers.  In  spite  of  these  objections,  continuation  schools 
become  ever  more  important  and  more  widely  diffused,  tending 
more  and  more  to  become  an  invariable  supplement  to  the 
public  elementary  school.  Of  late  years,  in  many  countries, 
attendance  at  continuation  schools  has  been  made  compulsory, 
especially  attendance  at  schools  of  apprenticeship  in  the  case 
of  children  who  fail  to  attend  the  middle  schools.  To  make 
attendance  at  a  continuation  school  obligatory  is  an  unmis- 
takable tendency  of  evolution. 

The  Tendency  of  Evolution. — The  public  elementary  school 
becomes  continually  more  uniform  in  character ;  it  tends,  that 
is  to  say,  to  become  the  common  school  for  all  children  of 
a  certain  age,  irrespective  of  the  wealth  or  position  of  their 
parents,  and  to  lay  the  foundation  upon  which  will  build  all 
middle  and  higher  educational  institutions.  Schools  of  this 
character  are  already  to  be  found  in  Denmark  and  in  the 
United  States  of  America.  The  public  elementary  school 
need  not  necessarily  give  religious  instruction.  Since  the 
schools  administered  by  the  religious  organisations  are  of 
comparatively  little  value,  it  is  necessary  that  the  public 
elementary  school  should  be  open  to  all  children,  irrespective 
of  their  creed.  A  further  step  in  development  is  for  the 
public  elementary  school  to  abandon  its  inappropriate  efforts 
to  give  religious  instruction. 

Private  schools  are  only  for  the  children  of  the  well- 
to-do.  In  the  majority  of  Gemeindeschulen  a  conservative  and 
narrowly  orthodox  religious  spirit  prevails.  A  proportion 
of  the  local  authorities  are  unwilling  or  unable  to  make  the 
material  sacrifices  requisite  for  the  proper  carrying  on  of  the 
elementary  schools,  and  for  this  reason  these  schools  vary 
greatly  in  efficiency.  To  prove  this,  it  suffices,  in  various 
countries,  to  compare  the  State  schools  with  the  GemeindcscJmlcn, 
and  the  town  schools  with  the  villasfe  schools. 

It  is  absolutely  essential  that  it  should  be  established  on 
principle  that  every  child,  not  excepting  the  children  of  the 
well-to-do,  must  attend  a  public  elementary  school,  and  that 
neither  attendance  at  a  private  school  nor  private  domestic 
instruction  can  be   accepted   in   lieu  of  such  attendance — if 


2i6  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

only  for  the  reason  that  not  until  this  obligation  is  universally 
enforced  will  the  richer  classes  acquire  a  genuine  interest  in 
the  public  elementary  schools.  To  this  it  is  objected  that  the 
elementary  schools  are  already  overcrowded,  that  their  hygienic 
conditions  are  unsatisfactory,  and  that  the  society  of  the  poorer 
children  would  not  be  good  for  the  richer  ones.  But  if  all 
this  is  true,  the  only  reasonable  conclusion  we  can  draw  is,  that 
it  is  time  that  these  defects  in  the  public  elementary  school 
were  abolished.  If,  for  the  reasons  given,  the  elementary 
school  is  unsuitable  for  the  children  of  the  well-to-do,  it  is  no 
less  unsuitable  for  the  children  of  the  poor.  For  the  rest, 
each  child  is  influenced  by  all  the  others.  The  rich  child 
may  learn  much  that  is  beautiful  and  good  from  the  poor  one, 
the  latter  often  learns  much  that  is  evil  and  hateful  from  the 
former.  The  children  of  the  well-to-do  must  learn  in  their 
earliest  youth  to  know  the  people,  for  it  is  their  mission  to 
lead  and  they  must  accustom  themselves  to  intercourse  with 
the  people. 

The  national  system  for  elementary  education  must  be 
extended  so  as  to  become  as  comprehensive  and  as  actual  as 
possible.  The  tendency  of  evolution  is  towards  the  institution 
of  a  public  elementary  school  truly  general,  truly  national, 
secular,  and  uniform  in  character.  Such  a  school  is  the  school 
of  the  future. 


C— DEPARTMENT   OF   CRIMINAL   LAW 

CHAPTER   I 
CRIMINALITY   IN   YOUTH 

Introductory. — The  foundations  of  the  classical  criminal 
law  have  been  shattered.  New  ideas  begin  to  prevail,  new 
institutions  appear  and  develop.  The  old  criminal  law  will 
soon  altogether  disappear.  In  harmony  with  the  general 
tendency  of  evolution,  whereby  our  whole  legal  system  tends 
to  become  an  affair  of  local  administration,  criminal  law  tends 
to  be  transformed  even  more  rapidly  than  other  branches  of 
law  into  a  department  of  local  administrative  activity.  We 
are  to-day  in  the  period  of  transition,  in  which  this  trans- 
formation is  being  effected.  The  aim  of  medical  science  is 
not  merely  to  cure  individual  cases  of  disease,  but  to  prevent 
the  origination,  recurrence,  and  diffusion  of  disease.  Criminal 
law  has  similar  aims,  its  highest  aim  of  all  being,  not  to 
punish,  but  to  prevent  crime.  It  regards  as  of  primary 
importance,  not  individual  liberty,  but  the  interest  of  society, 
and  it  considers,  not  the  crime,  but  the  criminal.  The  trans- 
formation that  is  going  on  is  further  advanced  in  some  portions 
of  criminal  law  than  it  is  in  others.  The  most  advanced 
portion  of  all  is  the  one  which  concerns  youthful  criminals. 

The  Causes  of  Criminality  in  Youth. — The  three  causes  of 
criminal  offences  are:  (a)  inherited  predisposition;  {h)  bad 
educational  influences ;  (c)  poverty.  (The  climatic  and  physio- 
logical causes  of  criminality  are  of  little  importance,  and  are, 
essentially,  social  causes.) 

(a)  According  to  the  theory  of  the  "  born  criminal,"  ^  most 
youthful  criminals  are  born  criminals.     The  view  is  correct 

1  This  theory  of  the  "  born  criminal "  is  associated  chiefly  with  the  name  of 
Lombroso.  See  my  translation  of  Kurella's  memoir,  "  Lombroso,  his  Life  and 
Work,"  London,  1911.     liebman.— Teanslator's  Note. 


2i8  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

to  this  extent  only,  in  so  far  as  a  certain  proportion — 
by  no  means  a  large  one — of  youthful  criminals  are  born 
criminals ;  but  many  youthful  criminals,  although  they  have 
come  into  the  world  physically,  mentally  and  morally 
degenerate,  are  not  for  this  reason  necessarily  to  be  regarded 
as  born  criminals.  To-day  more  degenerate  individuals  are 
born  than  formerly.  It  is  more  probable  that  the  children 
of  persons  suffering  from  syphilis,  tuberculosis,  and  alcoholism, 
and  the  children  of  prostitutes  and  criminals,  will  become 
criminals,  than  the  children  of  sound  individuals.  We  find, 
in  fact,  that  a  notably  large  proportion  of  all  criminals  are  the 
offspring  of  persons  of  the  former  classes. 

Q)  and  c)  The  children  of  the  proletariat  tend  to  be  much 
rougher,  and  are  much   more   inclined   to   become   criminals 
than  the   children   of  the  well-to-do.     Among   young  prole- 
tarians,  we   find   more   criminals   than   among   adults.      The 
towns  are  the  true  breeding-grounds  of  youthful  criminals. 
To-day   vagrant   children   in   the   streets    are  as    constant    a 
feature  of  town   life   as    the    street-lamps.      The    conditions 
of  proletarian  Hfe  make  the   proper   upbringing   of  children 
impossible  at  the  best  of  times.     All  the  more  is  it  impossible 
when  the  conditions  are  bad,  as  when  crime,  prostitution,  and 
alcoholism  prevail  in  the  family  circle.     The  principal  cause 
of  youthful  criminality  is  to  be  found  in  the  very  character 
of  proletarian  family  life,  which  makes  education  impossible, 
and  often  forces  the  child  into  a  career  of  crime.     It  is  well 
known  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  proletarian  children 
receive  no  schooling  at  all — that  is,  they  grow  up  unable  to  read 
and  write,  and  a  large  number  of  criminals  and  prostitutes  are 
made  up  of  such  illiterates.     A  notable  proportion  of  youthful 
criminals  are  recruited  from  the  class  of  wage-earning  children, 
and  these  latter  are  almost  all  proletarians,  and  most  of  them 
have  been  forced  to  adopt  wage-labour  in  very  early  youth. 
A  foul  dwelling-place  contaminates  the  mind  as  well  as  the 
body ;  an  enormous  preponderance  of  proletarian  children  live 
in  such  contaminating  surroundings.     A   principal   cause  of 
youthful  criminality  is  to  be  found  in  the  direct  influence  of 
poverty,   i.e.   poverty   operating   otherwise   than   through   the 
education  and  environment.     However  well  educated  a  child 


Criminality  in   Youth  219 

may  have  been,  it  must  steal  when  starving  and  freezing. 
Poverty  forces  children  to  adopt  a  course  of  action  which  may 
enable  them  to  satisfy  their  immediate  and  most  pressing  needs. 
About  half  of  the  girls  who  go  wrong  become  prostitutes; 
about  half  of  the  boys  in  similar  case  become  thieves. 

The  study  of  the  child-psyche  throws  light  upon  the  age 
at  which  children  are  especially  liable  to  commit  punishable 
offences,  and  upon  the  character  of  these.  The  character  of 
the  punishable  offences  committed  by  children  is  a  natural 
consequence  of  the  child-nature,  whose  especial  characteristics 
are  impulsiveness  and  acquisitiveness.  It  is  chiefly  on  this 
account  that  among  the  punishable  offences  committed  by 
children,  theft  is  the  most  frequent,  and  next  to  this  comes 
bodily  injury.  Punishable  offences  requiring  strength,  adroit- 
ness, or  deliberation  can  hardly  be  undertaken  by  children. 
Sexual  offences  are  committed  by  those  children  only  in 
whom  the  sexual  life  is  already  awakening.  Grievous  bodily 
harm  is  effected  only  by  those  whose  bodily  strength  is  fully 
developed.  Complicated  criminal  offences  can  be  undertaken 
by  children  only  when  they  possess  special  experience  and 
training.  Younger  children  commit  fewer  punishable  offences 
than  older  ones,  and  different  offences,  their  capacity  being 
less,  and  their  opportunities  more  limited.  The  suggestive 
influence  of  the  adult  criminal  is  very  great ;  he  exploits  the 
youthful  criminal,  and  by  threats  and  chastisement  forces  him 
into  criminal  courses.  During  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
number  of  criminals,  of  recidivists,  of  punishable  offences,  and 
the  gravity  of  these  latter,  has  increased  to  a  greater  extent 
than  the  population.  The  number  of  offences  against  public 
order,  and  of  crimes  against  the  person,  has  indeed  diminished, 
but  the  number  of  crimes  against  property,  and  of  offences 
against  morality,  has  disproportionately  increased.  The  number 
of  the  most  serious  crimes  is  smaller,  but  the  number  of 
relapses  into  crime  has  greatly  increased. 

During  the  nineteenth  century,  the  number  of  juvenile 
criminals  has  also  increased.  The  glitter  of  the  industrial 
development  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  to  be  paid  for  in 
large  part  by  the  gigantic  increase  in  juvenile  criminality. 
In  all  the  civilised  countries  of  Europe,  with  the  exception  of 


220  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

England,  there  has  been  an  extraordinary  increase  in  the 
number  of  youthful  criminals,  and  in  the  number  of  punish- 
able offences  committed  by  them,  this  increase  being  greater 
than  the  increase  in  the  number  of  criminals  and  of  criminal 
offences  in  general.  In  the  case  of  juvenile  criminals,  there 
has  also  been  an  increase  in  the  number  of  habitual  offenders, 
as  well  as  in  the  gravity  of  the  punishable  offences.  Perhaps 
the  most  important  difference  between  the  older  criminality 
and  the  newer,  is  that  to-day  the  juvenile  criminal  and  the 
habitual  offender  are  more  in  evidence.  Unquestionably  these 
two  phenomena  are  closely  associated,  for  the  great  majority 
of  professional  criminals  are  persons  whose  first  criminal 
offence  was  committed  during  childhood  or  youth.  At  the 
present  day,  in  all  the  civilised  countries  of  Europe,  about 
25  per  cent,  of  all  punishable  offences  are  committed  by 
young  persons. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  causes  of  the  increase  in 
juvenile  criminality.  The  character  of  many  of  the  offences 
customary  in  former  days — for  instance,  robbery  in  the  streets 
and  highways  by  footpads  and  highwaymen — was  such  as  to 
render  it  impossible  for  children  to  undertake  them.  Great 
towns,  in  whose  streets  and  suburbs  children  could  wander 
about,  and  in  which  it  is  comparatively  easy  for  them  to 
commit  punishable  offences,  did  not  exist.  Moreover,  children 
begin  to  work  for  a  living  at  an  earlier  age  than  in  former 
times.  The  application  of  draconian  laws,  under  which  even 
little  children  suffered  corporal  and  capital  punishment,  exer- 
cised a  deterrent  influence.  Since  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  punishments  have  become  much  milder.  A  large 
proportion  of  criminal  offences  are  to-day  more  lucrative, 
easier  to  carry  out,  and  less  risky  than  in  former  times. 
Youthful  criminality  is  probably  far  more  extensive  than  the 
official  records  show,  for  these  latter  take  no  account  of  petty 
offences.  Many  punishable  offences  never  become  known 
outside  the  limits  of  the  family.  In  view  of  the  offenders' 
youth,  reports  are  often  suppressed. 

The  Classical  Criminal  Law. — It  is  characteristic  of  the 
classical  criminal  law  that  criminal  offences  committed  by  chil- 
dren were  either  left  unpunished,  or,  if  punished,  were  punished 


Criminality  m   Youth  221 

less  severely  than  the  offences  of  adults.  In  the  classical 
crimmal  law  several  age-classes  were  distinguished  among 
juvenile  criminals,  (a)  Children  too  young  to  understand 
that  an  ojfence  is  punishable,  and  for  this  reason  liable  neither 
to  prosecution  nor  to  punishment.  In  existing  legislative 
systems,  the  age  at  which  criminal  responsibility  is  supposed 
to  begin  varies  greatly;  it  may  be  as  low  as  seven,  and  as 
high  as  fifteen  years.  (&)  The  second  class  consists  of  those 
children  of  an  age  at  which  criminal  responsibility  is  supposed 
to  have  begun.  If  such  a  child  commits  a  punishable  offence, 
it  is  examined  as  to  whether  it  possesses  the  necessary  under- 
standing of  the  punishable  nature  of  the  offence.  If  it  is 
considered  not  to  possess  this  understanding,  no  punishment 
is  inflicted.  The  punishment  is,  in  any  case,  less  severe  than 
that  which  would  be  inflicted  upon  an  adult.  To  this  class 
belong  children  at  ages  from  seven  to  eighteen  years,  (c) 
The  third  age-class  consists  of  offenders  over  eighteen  years 
of  age,  who  are  regarded  as  necessarily  possessed  of  an  under- 
standing of  the  punishable  character  of  their  offence,  but  in 
whom  also  the  punishment  is  less  severe  than  it  would  be  if 
they  were  of  full  age. 

Gradual  Transformation  of  the  Classical  Criminal  Laic — In 
the  nineteenth  century  the  provisions  of  the  classical  criminal 
law  no  longer  meet  the  case  of  juvenile  criminality.  Their 
inefficiency  is  demonstrated  by  the  enormous  proportion  of 
recidivists  among  juvenile  offenders.  The  number  of  recidivists 
continually  increases,  and  criminality  tends  more  and  more  to 
be  the  work  of  habitual  offenders.  Indeed,  the  criminal,  in 
most  cases,  continues  to  repeat  the  very  offence  for  which  he 
was  first  punished.  This  is  especially  true  of  offences  against 
property.  The  oftener  anyone  has  been  punished,  the  greater 
is  the  probability  that  he  will  commit  another  offence,  and  the 
sooner  is  this  likely  to  take  place.  In  reality  the  frequency 
of  recidivism  is  even  greater  than  appears  from  the  official 
statistics.  These  relate  to  those  persons  only  who  are  regarded 
as  recidivists  by  the  existing  laws.  They  take  no  account  of 
how  many  individuals  leave  the  country  after  their  first  con- 
vicion  for  a  criminal  offence. 

An  examination  of  these  facts,  and  the  study  of  the  child- 


22  2  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

mind,  have  led  to  the  conchision  that  criminaHty  in  youth  is 
the  main  som-ce  of  the  general  stream  of  criminality,  and  that 
we  cannot  depend  upon  our  present  methods  of  dealing  with 
crime  and  criminals  to  dry  up  this  source.  Hence  even  the 
dogmatists  are  coming  more  and  more  to  admit  the  failures  of 
the  classical  criminal  law,  and  to  recommend  that  mere  puni- 
tive methods  should  give  place  to  the  educative  treatment  of 
criminal  offenders,  punishment  being  used,  if  at  all,  only  as  an 
educative  influence.  Even  in  those  countries  which  lag  behind 
the  rest  in  development,  this  conception  begins  to  influence 
legislation.  This  conviction  that  youthful  offenders  require  not 
punishment,  but  education,  was  acquired  by  mankind  many 
decades  before  it  was  generally  realised  that  it  is  equally 
true  of  adult  criminals — that  they  should  not  be  punished, 
but  improved,  or,  if  unimprovable,  rendered  harmless.  It  is 
understood  that  those  punishments  only  can  be  justified  which 
exercise  a  lasting  educative  influence,  by  removing  the  child 
from  its  former  environment  into  a  better  and  healthier  one. 
It  is  recognised  that  the  difference  between  punishment  and 
education  is  not  absolute,  but  relative  merely,  inasmuch  as 
education  cannot  dispense  entirely  with  punitive  methods,  and 
punishment,  properly  utilised,  exercises  an  educative  influence. 
It  is  also  now  understood  that  by  the  proper  legal  treatment 
of  youthful  criminal  offenders,  many  thousands  of  children  can 
be  saved  every  year  from  the  permanent  adoption  of  a  career 
of  crime,  and  their  working  powers  thus  preserved  for  the  com- 
munity. This  was  seen  first  of  all,  where  it  more  especially 
applies,  in  the  case  of  manufacturing  towns.  For  the  reforma- 
tion of  criminal  and  neglected  youth  by  educational  methods, 
the  first  steps  were  taken,  and  taken  most  effectively,  by  the 
country  in  which  the  modern  manufacturing  system  first  made 
its  appearance — England,  to  wit.  At  the  present  day  it  is  the 
great  manufacturing  countries,  England,  Belgium,  France,  and 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  which  most  is  done  in  this 
regard. 

Special  Legislation  Dealing  with  Youthful  Criminals. — It  is 
to  that  portion  of  the  newer  criminal  law  which  concerns 
youthful  criminals  that  the  dogmatists  object  most  strongly. 
They  complain  that  it  endangers  very  seriously  personal  liberty 


Criminality  in   Youth  223 

and  parental  authority.  There  are  many  who  argue  to-day 
against  coercive  reformatory  education,  on  the  ground  that 
personal  freedom  and  parental  authority  should  be  inviolable. 
We  even  find  some  who  attack  modern  ideas  from  the  stand- 
point of  various  legal  theories.  Such  persons  tell  us  that 
coercive  reformatory  education  interferes  more  than  punish- 
ment with  the  child's  individual  liberty,  and  that  it  absolutely 
ignores  parental  authority.  The  criminal  authorities  have 
absolutely  no  right,  in  their  view,  to  supervise  a  child's 
education,  but  merely  to  punish  it  or  to  set  it  at  liberty. 
But  this  portion  of  modern  criminal  jurisprudence  does  not 
aim  merely  at  the  suppression  of  juvenile  criminality.  It 
is  likewise  an  experimental  laboratory,  as  it  were,  for  the 
testing  of  new  institutions,  the  success  or  failure  of  which 
is  eagerly  awaited  by  criminal  jurists.  If  any  institution 
thus  tested  proves  successful,  its  application  is  immediately 
extended  to  other  portions  of  the  criminal  law.  In  the  United 
States  of  America,  for  example,  the  method  which  has  been 
found  successful  in  the  case  of  juvenile  offenders  is  now  being 
applied  in  the  case  also  of  young  adult  criminals. 

Proposals  Bearing  on  the  Question  of  Criminal  Responsibility 
at  Different  Ages. — («)  A  radical  proposal  for  reform  is  that  the 
distinction  between  juvenile  and  adult  criminals  should  be 
abolished,  and  that,  instead,  criminals  should  be  classified 
simply  as  educable  or  non-educable.  This  proposal  is  imprac- 
ticable. In  consequence  of  the  application  of  the  principles  of 
individualisation  and  classification,  the  distinctions  between  the 
various  age-classes  of  criminals  become,  indeed,  of  less  and  less 
importance.  There  may  even  be  a  little  truth  in  the  assertion 
that  in  a  large  country,  owing  to  racial  and  climatic  differences, 
no  uniform  classification  of  offenders  according  to  ages  can  be 
adopted.  And  yet  the  definition  of  age-limits  in  the  case  of 
criminal  offenders  is  indispensable.  In  a  few  cases  such  dis- 
tinction may  render  the  appropriate  treatment  of  offenders 
more  difficult,  but  in  the  great  majority  of  instances  they 
facilitate  the  work  of  judges  and  magistrates,  and  afford  a 
means  of  individualisation. 

(J))  Liability  to  punishment  is  almost  universally  regarded 
as  beginning,  at  the  earliest,  at  the  age  of  fourteen.     This  is 


224  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

the  period  of  the  commencement  of  the  puberal  development, 
of  the  cessation  of  school  attendance,  when  the  child  passes 
from  the  life  of  the  family  and  the  school  to  a  life  in  the  open, 
and  becomes  competent  to  work  for  a  living. 

(c)  Many  writers  demand  that  the  period  of  nonage,  as  far 
as  criminal  responsibility  is  concerned,  should  be  extended. 
They  do  so  on  these  grounds.  The  physical  development  of 
the  individual  is  not  completed  till  the  age  of  twenty-three  or 
thereabouts.  It  is  inconsistent  that  one  who  is  still  a  minor 
from  the  point  of  view  of  civil  law  should  be  regarded  as  of 
full  age  from  the  point  of  view  of  criminal  law.  Civil  law 
is  an  affair  merely  for  the  owning  and  well-to-do  classes; 
criminal  law  arises  mainly  in  consequence  of  poverty.  Hence 
we  may  say  that  in  general  civil  law  is  created  for  the  former 
class,  and  criminal  law  for  the  latter.  There  is  certainly  at 
any  rate  an  appearance  of  class-justice  in  the  assertion  that 
those  belonging  to  the  poorer  classes  at  eighteen  are  mature 
enough  to  be  sent  to  jail,  whilst  those  belonging  to  the  well- 
to-do  classes  are  incompetent  to  make  a  binding  legal  engage- 
ment to  pay  half-a-sovereign  until  they  are  twenty-one  or 
twenty-four  years  of  age.  But  the  proposal  is  impracticable. 
Its  adoption  would  undoubtedly  involve  grave  dangers  to 
public  order,  since  the  age-class  of  persons  from  eighteen  to 
twenty-one  is  characterised  by  a  high  and  a  serious  criminality- 
rate.  The  result  of  educative  measures  in  the  case  of  young 
criminals  of  such  an  age  is  not  a  very  great  one,  for  the 
formation  of  the  character  is  by  this  time  far  advanced.  To 
extend  the  age  for  a  coercive  reformatory  education  to  include 
the  last  years  of  civil  minority  would  be  devoid  of  any  justifi- 
cation upon  accepted  legal  principles.  There  is  no  reason  why 
the  period  of  criminal  nonage  should  coincide  with  the  civil. 
In  the  first  place,  a  much  higher  degree  of  intellectual  capacity 
is  requisite  to  the  understanding  of  a  transaction  in  civil  law 
than  to  the  understanding  of  the  punishable  character  of  an 
offence.  In  the  second  place,  a  punishable  offence  is  also  an 
offence  against  public  order,  but  matters  of  civil  law  usually 
concern  individuals  only.  In  the  third  place,  as  regards  the  capa- 
city also  for  infringements  of  the  civil  law,  narrower  limits  are 
imposed  than  in  the  case  of  the  capacity  to  enter  into  a  bargain. 


Criminality  in   Youth  225 

The  Defects  of  our  Present  Penal  Methods. — The  pimisliments 
imposed  by  our  present  penal  system  are  quite  unmeaning. 
Not  only  do  they  exercise  no  educative  influence,  but  they 
even  hinder  education.  In  the  case  of  children  they  are  not 
deterrent,  first,  because  children  act  on  impulse,  and,  secondly, 
because  they  have  no  accurate  conception  of  the  nature  of 
these  punishments.  To  many  children  imprisonment  seems 
the  same  sort  of  thing  as  being  "  kept  in  "  at  school,  and  they 
quite  fail  to  recognise  its  seriousness.  Punishment  by  fine  is 
supposed  to  make  the  offender  suffer  in  proportion  to  the 
suffering  he  has  mflicted  by  his  offence.  But  how  can  the 
judge  or  magistrate,  above  all  where  children  are  concerned, 
accurately  estimate  the  fine  necessary  to  achieve  this  result  ? 
The  difficulties  of  rightly  apportioning  the  punishment  are 
equally  formidable  in  the  matter  of  imprisonment  as  in  the 
matter  of  fine. 

(a)  In  the  punishment  of  juvenile  offenders,  in  modern 
times,  the  fine  is  really  altogether  inapplicable.  Ninety  per 
cent,  of  juvenile  offenders  are  altogether  without  means. 
What  does  a  fine  matter  to  one  for  whom  it  is  paid  by 
another  ?  Young  people,  as  a  rule,  do  not  yet  understand 
the  value  of  money.  If  the  offender  is  a  person  of  property, 
then  he  has  no  occasion  to  dread  a  fine ;  or  even  if  the  fine 
were  proportionate  to  his  means,  the  juvenile  offender  would 
not  understand  its  significance  until  after  he  had  attamed 
his  majority.  But  we  cannot  depend  upon  the  efficacy  of 
a  punishment  which  does  not  become  effective  as  punish- 
ment until  after  the  lapse  of  years.  If  the  juvenile  offender 
has  to  pay  the  fine  out  of  his  wages,  he  loses  all  desire  for 
work.  The  majority  of  youthful  offenders  belong  to  the 
poorer  classes,  and  are  not  in  a  position  to  pay  the  fine  them- 
selves. The  parents  will  give  their  child  a  lecture  if  they 
have  to  pay  the  fine,  but  this  will  by  no  means  attain  the 
object  of  the  punishment.  Moreover,  if  the  relatives  pay  the 
fine,  they  arc  unjustly  punished,  and  may  revenge  themselves 
on  the  child. 

{h)  Punishment  by  imprisonment  costs  the  State  millions 
of  money  every  year,  and  yet  does  no  good.  It  is  not  pos- 
sible, everywhere  and  always,  to  separate  the  young  prisoners 

p 


2  26  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

from  the  adults,  although  it  is  absolutely  essential  that 
this  should  be  done,  A  society,  such  as  that  of  the 
prison,  in  which  the  worst  are  the  most  respected,  and  in 
which  the  innocent  are  despised  and  corrupted,  is  not  suit- 
able for  young  persons.  If  the  juvenile  offender  is  kept 
in  isolation,  his  mental  health  will  suffer;  moreover,  his 
loneliness  impels  him  to  seek  the  society  of  the  other 
prisoners,  and  the  greatest  possible  care  will  not  succeed 
in  preventing  such  association.  It  is  maintained  by  some 
that  imprisonment  exercises  a  deterrent  influence  upon 
children,  and  that  a  coercive  reformatory  education  does 
not.  But  the  reverse  of  this  is  true.  Not  even  the  longest 
term  of  imprisonment  which  ^can  be  inflicted  for  juvenile 
crime  will  be  found  to  exercise  a  deterrent  influence ;  and  it 
is  the  custom  of  the  courts,  in  the  case  of  juvenile  offenders, 
to  inflict,  not  the  maximum,  but  the  minimum  sentence  per- 
missible by  the  law.  The  child  is  not  afraid  of  the  prison, 
because  it  is  better  treated  there  than  outside ;  in  prison  it 
receives  shelter,  food,  clothing,  and  warmth  without  having 
to  pay  anything,  without  having  to  work  hard,  and  without 
being  ill-treated.  But  the  child  is  afraid  of  a  coercive  re- 
formatory education :  in  prison  the  child  is  apathetic,  its  life 
being  meaningless  and  without  aim ;  but  the  working  dis- 
cipline associated  with  a  coercive  reformatory  education  is 
regarded  by  the  child  as  a  much  more  serious  matter,  being 
new  and  strange,  needing  continuous  attention,  constant  dili- 
gence, and  hard  work.  For  many  proletarian  parents,  to 
commit  their  child  to  prison  is  an  alleviation ;  the  parents 
then  have  one  trouble  the  less,  and  the  family  income  goes 
a  little  farther.  Imprisonment  brands  a  child.  When  it 
has  served  its  time,  employment  is  often  extremely  hard  to 
obtain,  for  most  employers  very  naturally  dread  that  such 
a  child  will  commit  another  criminal  oflence  while  in  their 
employ.  The  child,  finding  it  impossible  to  earn  an  honest 
living,  is  forced  into  the  paths  of  habitual  crime.  Young  people, 
much  more  readily  than  adults,  accustom  themselves  to  new 
conditions  of  life.  In  view  of  this  fact,  there  is  great  danger 
that  the  youthful  offender  will  become  altogether  indifterent 
to  imprisonm.ent ;  that    the   punishment   will   induce   a  con- 


Criminality  in   Youth  227 

dition  of  immunity  to  its  effects.  A  child  which  has  been 
once  in  prison  is  hkely  to  become  a  recidivist,  if  only 
for  the  reason  that  it  will  now  have  lost  the  dread  of 
prison  which  it  had  in  the  days  before  its  first  offence  was 
committed.  We  learn  from  statistics  that  the  majority 
of  youthful  offenders  are  sentenced  to  short  terms  of  im- 
prisonment. They  regard  these  with  the  greatest  indiffer- 
ence, and  are  not  in  the  least  afraid  of  them.  Such  short 
terms  of  imprisonment  do  not  protect  society;  and  the 
possibility  of  their  exercising  any  educative  influence  is  ex- 
cluded by  the  fact  that  since  the  term  of  imprisonment  is 
short,  and  the  cost  of  transport  considerable,  the  child  will 
be  confined  in  the  nearest  prison,  instead  of  being  sent  to 
some  special  and  suitable  place  of  confinement.  Many  chil- 
dren are  even  pleased  at  being  sent  to  prison,  regarding  their 
sentence  as  a  desirable  interlude  in  school  work.  This  diffi- 
culty is  not  met  by  postponing  the  term  of  imprisonment  to 
the  holiday  season.  The  child  leaves  prison  to  return  to 
school.  If  it  is  despised  by  its  schoolmates,  it  sinks  lower ; 
if  it  is  regarded  as  a  hero,  the  effect  is  no  less  corrupting. 

Imprisonment  for  a  child  must  take  no  other  form  than 
that  of  education  under  strict  discipline.  If  a  short  term  of 
imprisonment  is  ordered,  solitary  confinement  is  essential.  If 
a  child  must  be  sent  to  prison,  the  use  of  the  common  prison 
is  inadmissible,  and  a  children's  wing  in  a  general  prison  is 
hardly  better ;  a  special  prison  for  children  is  essential,  if  only 
for  the  reason  that,  unless  we  have  a  comparatively  large 
number  of  young  persons  assembled  together,  it  is  more 
difficult  to  arrange  for  the  proper  distribution  of  occupations 
(manual  work  of  various  kinds). 

From  these  considerations  we  may  draw  the  following 
conclusions;  Society  stands  quietly  by,  waiting  until  juvenile 
criminals  grow  up  and  begin  to  commit  serious  offences.  Our 
prisons  are  the  true  high  schools  of  criminality.  The  present 
prison  system  is  the  most  effective  factor  in  the  production  of 
crime ;  to  such  an  extent  is  this  true,  that  if  we  discharge 
a  juvenile  offender  with  a  caution,  there  is  less  likelihood  that 
he  will  coinmit  another  criminal  offence  than  if  we  had  sent 
him  to  prison.     The  accuracy  of  these  views  is  now  more  and 


228  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

more  widely  recognised ;  and  in  the  case  of  juvenile  offenders, 
imprisonment,  formerly  the  rule,  is  now  quite  exceptional. 

The  Question  of  the  Capacity  for  Understanding  the  Punishable 
Character  of  Criminal  Offences. — The  notion  of  the  capacity  for 
understanding  the  punishable  character  of  criminal  offences  is 
unworkable  in  practice.     It  considers  the  intellectual  element 
only,   whereas   in   children  we   have  to   distinguish    between 
intellectual    maturity    and    moral.     Intellectual    maturity    is 
commonly    attained    earlier    than    moral,    and     intellectual 
maturity  alone  should  not  render  the  child  liable  to  punish- 
ment.    Often  a  child  is  mature  enough  to  distinguish  what  is 
allowed  from  what  is  forbidden,  but  is  not  yet  strong  enough 
to  refrain  from  the  latter  course.      The  most  striking  example 
of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  case  of  young  proletarians,  in 
whom,  in  consequence  of  their  premature  contact  with   the 
manifold   factors   of  life,    the   mental    development    is    often 
premature    to    an    astonishing    degree,    but    this    intellectual 
precocity    stands    constrasted    with    conspicuous    moral    im- 
maturity.    It    is    hard   to   determine   what   factors    have    to 
be  taken  into  consideration  in  deciding  whether  a  child  has 
attained    intellectual    and    moral   maturity.      It    is    essential 
to  examine — {a)  whether  the  child  has  an  accurate  conception 
of  the  nature   of  punishment;    {I)  whether  it   understands 
what    legal   principle  is  infringed  or   threatened  by  its  act; 
(c)  whether  it  possesses  such  a  degree  of  moral  maturity  that, 
through  possession  of  the  conception  alluded  to  in  section  (a), 
and  of  the  understanding  alluded  to  in   section  (&),   it  was 
competent  to  refrain  from  the  criminal  offence. 

In  the  case  of  almost  all  punishable  offences  another 
solution  of  this  |)roblem  is  possible.  The  more  serious  the 
punishable  offence,  the  earlier  the  age  at  which  a  child  is 
competent  to  understand  its  character.  But,  in  many  cases, 
it  is  an  obvious  inference  that  a  child  which  from  absurd 
motives  has  committed  so  serious  an  offence  cannot  possibly 
possess  the  requisite  moral  maturity.  Moreover,  the  three 
factors  we  have  mentioned  cannot  be  accurately  defined.  In 
maturity  there  are  many  degrees  and  stages,  passing  im- 
perceptibly one  into  another,  and  exceedingly  difficult  to 
differentiate.     The  decision  of  this  question  will  therefore  be 


Criminality  in   Youth  229 

the  work  of  experts,  who  will  have  to  keep  the  child  under 
observation  for  months.  It  follows  that  a  decision  as  to 
criminal  responsibility  based  upon  an  understanding  of  the 
punishable  nature  of  an  offence  is,  of  necessity,  and  in  every 
case,  uncertain  and  unequal. 

To-day,  in  legal  proceedings  where  juvenile  offenders  are 
concerned,  remarkable  incidents  occur.  For  example,  the 
judge  or  magistrate  asks  the  child  to  repeat  the  ten  command- 
ments and  the  catechism.  If  the  child  can  do  this,  it  is 
supposed  to  possess  the  requisite  understanding.  It  is  left 
quite  out  of  consideration  that  the  child  has  probably  learned 
the  commandments  by  rote,  without  understanding  them  in 
the  least.  Or,  again,  the  judge  makes  the  child  describe  the 
act  it  has  committed,  and  then  asks,  "  Do  you  know  that  such 
acts  are  punishable  ? "  But  in  the  proceedings  in  court  the 
child  has  been  made  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  it  has  com- 
mitted a  punishable  offence,  and  yet  it  may  not  have  known 
this  at  the  time  the  offence  was  committed.  In  the  case 
of  the  offences  with  which  the  enormous  majority  of  juvenile 
offenders  are  charged,  namely,  theft,  fraud,  and  bodily  injury, 
a  knowledge  of  the  punishable  character  of  these  offences  is 
apt  habitually  to  be  assumed  by  the  courts.  This  assumption 
is  justified,  but  it  suffices  to  show  the  impracticabihty  of  the 
conception. 

The  School. — The  proposal  has  been  made  that  when  petty 
offences  are  committed  by  children  of  school  age,  the  school 
should  deal  with  the  matter;  and  that  only  when  a 
more  serious  offence  has  been  committed  should  the  case 
go  before  the  law-courts.  In  proportion  to  the  seriousness 
of  the  case,  the  punishment  should  be  apportioned  by  the 
class-master,  by  the  head-master  and  class-master  together, 
or  by  the  united  teaching  faculty.  The  suggested  punish- 
ments arc — a  reprimand,  task-work,*  sitting  on  the  punishment 
form,  being  kept  in  after  school  hours,  corporal  punishment, 
&c.  Investigation  by  other  authorities  is  not  to  be  regarded  as 
superfluous,  but  in  minor  cases  it  will  suffice  to  leave  the 
whole  matter  in  the  hands  of  the  school  authorities.  The 
following  reasons  are  given  for  this  proposal.  In  the  case 
of   petty  offences,  the  tedious  and  laborious  intervention   of 


230  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

the  criminal  authority  is  quite  uncalled  for.  It  may  even 
be  said  that  we  misuse  and  make  light  of  the  criminal 
authority,  when  we  invoke  the  aid  of  this  gigantic  apparatus, 
and  as  a  result  of  this  the  child  is  discharged  with  a  hardly 
perceptible  punishment.  If  the  State  undertakes  to  deal 
with  all  petty  offences,  it  is  left  no  time  for  the  proper  con- 
sideration of  the  graver  and  more  important  ones.  The  aim 
in  view  can  be  attained  by  less  expensive  and  less  elaborate 
means. 

These  considerations  notwithstanding,  this  proposal  can 
be  approved  only  to  this  extent,  that  in  the  case  of 
juvenile  offences  which  do  not  render  necessary  a  coercive 
reformatory  education,  it  will  suffice  that  the  child  should 
be  punished  by  its  parents  or  by  the  school  authorities. 

The,  Reprimand. — Some  contend  that  it  is  in  many  cases 
sufficient  for  the  court  to  administer  a  suitable  reprimand. 
But,  owing  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  child-psyche,  the 
influence  of  the  reprimand  is  extremely  fugitive.  A  child 
so  readily  forgets.  It  has  not  as  yet  any  accurate  conception 
of  honour,  and  completely  fails  to  understand  that  it  is  dis- 
honoured by  the  reprimand.  As  in  the  case  of  any  other  punish- 
ment, the  reprimand  can  as  a  rule  only  be  administered  after 
the  offence  has  been  proved,  and  the  offender  sentenced ; 
hence,  there  is  so  long  an  interval  between  the  act  and  its 
punishment,  that  the  reprimand  becomes  quite  ineffective, 
and  is  in  fact  no  more  than  an  empty  formality.  Moreover, 
there  are  objections  on  principle  against  utilising  the  repri- 
mand as  a  method  of  punishment,  so  that  its  use  is  possible 
only  in  exceptional  cases. 

Flogging. — Many  persons  consider  that  in  the  case  of 
certain  offences,  especially  such  as  betray  the  existence  of  a 
rough  disposition,  a  flogging  is  the  best  punishment.  But 
the  fact  that  England,  which  holds  the  leadership  in  the 
movement  for  child-protection,  continues  to  employ  flogging 
as  a  punishment,  and  the  fact  that  Denmark  introduced 
flogging  as  a  punishment  only  a  few  years  ago  (since  then, 
however,  abolished),  prove  nothing.  For  the  reasons  given 
in  an  earlier  chapter,  flogging  must  be  regarded  as  an  exces- 
sively noxious   method   of  punishment,  and  must    not  even 


Criminality  in   Youth  231 

be  employed  as  a  disciplinary  measure  in  reformatory  schools 
and  prisons. 

The  Conditioixal  Sentence. — The  nature  of  the  conditional 
sentence,  is  that,  conviction  having  been  eiBfected,  the  sentence 
is  passed,  but  does  not  take  effect,  unless  the  offender  commits 
another  punishable  offence ;  should  he  fail  to  do  this,  he  is, 
by  many  legal  codes,  still  classed  as  a  non-punished  person. 
The  conditional  sentence  is  distinguished  from  a  conditional 
pardon  by  the  fact  that  in  the  case  of  the  latter  the  punish- 
ment is  disallowed,  not  by  the  court,  but  in  virtue  of  the  right 
of  pardon  vested  in  the  higher  authority  of  the  government. 
The  conditional  sentence  is  of  dubious  value  in  the  case  of 
juvenile  offenders,  because  young  persons  very  readily  forget ; 
and  in  the  event  of  their  committing  a  second  offence,  they 
now  incur  a  double  punishment.  Considerations  of  jurispru- 
dence compel  us  to  regard  the  conditional  pardon  also  as 
a  measure  of  dubious  value. 

In  the  United  States  of  America  probation  is  employed. 
This  is  a  postponement  of  the  sentence — that  is  to  say,  not 
a  conditional  sentence,  nor  a  conditional  release  from  punish- 
ment, nor  even  a  postponement  of  punishment.  In  this  way 
it  is  hoped  that  condemnation  and  punishment  of  the  child 
will  be  altogether  avoided.  The  court,  at  its  free  discretion, 
can  commit  the  child  to  a  reformatory  without  having 
first  passed  sentence.  If  the  child  does  not  mend  its  ways, 
it  is  brought  up  for  judgment,  and  sentence  is  passed.  The 
system  is  an  unmistakable  improvement  upon  the  unconditional 
sentence.  But  the  conditional  sentence  can  be  imposed  upon 
such  terms  that  it  is  associated  with  a  protective  supervision, 
and  that  the  conditionally-remitted  punishment  will  be  re- 
imposed,  not  only  in  the  event  of  the  commission  of  a  fresh 
criminal  offence,  but  also  in  the  event  of  creneral  misconduct. 

The  European  system  of  conditional  remission  of  punish- 
ment consists  in  a  conditional  release  of  the  prisoner  after 
he  has  served  a  portion  of  his  sentence.  If  he  makes  a  good 
use  of  his  freedom,  the  remainder  of  his  punishment  is  entirely 
remitted,  but  if  he  misconducts  himself  he  must  return  to 
prison  and  serve  out  his  term.  Kelease  on  parole  in  the 
United  States  of  America  is  distinguished  from  this  system 


232  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

by  the  fact  that  in  the  former  case,  after  its  release,  the  child 
remains  subject  to  educative  supervision;  and  it  is  distinguished 
from  probation  by  the  fact  that  in  the  case  of  probation  a  por- 
tion of  the  punishment,  or  of  the  reformatory  education,  as  the 
case  may  be,  has  already  been  undergone. 

Probation  and  release  on  parole  are  preferable  to  the 
European  system ;  for  from  this  last,  since  it  is  not  associated 
with  any  serious  attempt  at  educative  supervision,  no  particular 
good  can  be  expected.  It  is  eminently  desirable  that  the 
criminal  legislation  of  every  civilised  State  should  adopt  these 
systems  of  probation  and  parole,  with  whatever  modifications 
may  be  found  necessary  in  individual  countries;  and  the 
tendency  of  evolution  is  unmistakably  in  this  direction.  In 
the  majority  of  the  States  of  the  American  Union,  the  pro- 
bationary system  is  in  force,  and  in  many  of  these  States  it 
is  applicable  even  in  the  case  of  adults.  In  most  of  those 
States  in  which  it  is  in  force,  it  is  associated  with  the  system 
of  Children's  Courts ;  but  in  a  few  these  Courts  are  as  yet 
unknown. 

The  Indeterminate  Sentence. — In  Europe,  in  view  of  the 
sacred  character  of  individual  liberty,  it  is  the  general  opinion 
that  the  law  courts  should  have  no  power  to  sentence  an 
offender  to  imprisonment  for  anything  but  a  definitely  fixed 
term.  But  this  system  is  in  direct  contradiction  with  the 
object  of  the  punishment.  The  criminal  is  to  be  regarded 
as  an  abnormal,  diseased  individual,  whose  punishment  must 
last  until  he  is  cured.  He  must  for  the  most  part  be  treated 
as  we  treat  one  suffering  from  mental  disorder,  who  is  com- 
mitted to  an  asylum  for  an  indeterminate  period.  The  work 
undertaken  by  the  State  in  respect  of  the  majority  of  criminals 
is  to  effect  their  physical  and  moral  cure.  It  is  therefore 
absurd  on  the  face  of  the  matter  to  specify  beforehand  a 
precise  period  within  which  the  cure  must  be  completed.  It  is 
quite  impossible  for  the  judge,  when  passing  sentence,  to  deter- 
mine how  long  it  will  take  to  attain  the  desired  end.  When 
and  if  that  end  is  attained  can  be  determined  only  by  those 
to  whom  is  entrusted  the  administration  of  the  punishment — 
persons  continuously,  and  for  a  long  period,  associated  with 
the  prisoner.     The  duration  of  the  punishment  must  depend. 


Criminality  in   Youth  233 

not  upon  the  offender's  conduct  at  the  time  the  offence  was 
committed,  but  upon  his  conduct  after  he  has  been  sentenced. 
When  an  offender  is  serving  out  a  fixed  sentence,  the  only 
thing  that  interests  him  is  how  much  of  the  period  he  has  got 
through,  and  how  much  still  remains  before  him.  But  when 
the  sentence  is  indeterminate,  it  will  be  his  whole-hearted 
endeavour  to  conduct  himself  in  such  a  way,  to  effect  such  an 
improvement,  as  to  obtain  his  release. 

At  the  present  day,  there  is  no  country  in  which  sentences 
are  altogether  indeterminate.  Even  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  where  the  indeterminate  sentence  prevails,  a  maximum 
term  is  specified  for  the  prisoner's  detention.  The  greater 
this  maximum,  the  more  powerful  will  be  the  effect  of  the 
indeterminate  sentence.  The  younger  the  prisoner,  the  more 
powerful  also  will  be  the  effect  of  the  indeterminate  sentence, 
for  the  younger  the  prisoner,  the  more  has  he  to  expect  from 
life.  In  America  the  experience  of  the  working  of  the  in- 
determinate sentence  has  been  so  satisfactory,  that  there  is 
a  general  desire  that  the  specified  maximum  sentence  should 
be  completely  abolished.  But  as  yet  the  efforts  in  this  direc- 
tion have  been  unsuccessful. 

In  the  case  of  juvenile  offenders,  the  arguments  in  favour 
of  the  indeterminate  sentence  are  even  more  powerful  than  in 
the  case  of  adults.  The  aim  of  imprisonment  is  to  exercise 
an  educative  influence  upon  the  child,  and  it  is  impossible 
to  determine  beforehand  how  long  a  time  will  be  required  to 
complete  the  necessary  education.  The  indispensable  founda- 
tion of  every  sound  penal  system  for  juvenile  criminals  is  the 
institution  of  the  indeterminate  sentence.  We  find,  in  fact, 
that  in  the  United  States  of  America  the  reformatory  system 
is  inseparably  associated  with  the  indeterminate  sentence ;  and 
in  many  European  countries,  when  a  child  is  sent  to  a 
reformatory,  no  definite  term  is  specified  beforehand. 

Should  Punishment  he  Rendered  more  Severe. — The  classical 
legal  system  is  defective.  But  to  many  it  appears  that  its 
present  failures  depend  upon  the  excessive  mitigation  of  punish- 
ment ;  such  persons  contend  that  we  can  expect  a  diminution 
of  crime  only  if  Ave  render  punishments  more  severe.  Many 
even    demand    the    reintroduction    of    corporal    punishment. 


234  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

More  severe  sentences  are  indispensable  in  the  case  of  the 
habitual  criminal;  but  in  the  case  of  occasional  criminals  and 
j  uvenile  criminals,  no  good  results  are  to  be  expected  from  any 
such  measure. 

The  Coercive,  Reforviatory  Education  of  Youthful  Criminals. — 
The  coercive  reformatory  education  of  youthful  criminals  has 
in  essentials  the  same  character  as  the  compulsory  education 
enforced  by  the  ordinary  processes  of  the  civil  law.  Its  central 
idea  is  the  following.  The  child  which  for  one  reason  or 
another  stands  in  need  of  a  coercive  reformatory  education, 
whether  that  need  is  manifested  by  the  commission  of  some 
punishable  offence  or  in  any  other  way,  and  whether  the  need 
arises  in  consequence  of  neglect  on  the  part  of  the  child's 
parents  or  in  consequence  of  that  of  some  other  person  or 
persons,  must  receive  the  education  it  needs.  The  child  that 
requires  a  coercive  reformatory  education  because  it  has  com- 
mitted a  punishable  offence  does  not  differ  in  any  important 
respects  from  a  child  which  has  not  committed  any  such 
offence,  but  is  in  a  state  of  neglect.  The  latter  child  also 
should  be  subjected  to  a  coercive  reformatory  education;  on 
no  account  should  we  wait  until  it  has  committed  a  punishable 
offence,  and  has  in  this  way  manifested  its  neglected  state  in 
a  manner  that  cannot  be  overlooked.  Besides,  neglected 
children  and  juvenile  criminals  belong  to  the  same  class  of 
society,  and  in  the  case  of  both  the  need  for  a  coercive 
reformatory  education  arises  out  of  like  conditions.  Thus, 
the  question  of  the  coercive  reformatory  education  of  juvenile 
criminals  is  not  one  appertaining  merely  to  the  province  of 
criminal  law,  but,  in  conjunction  with  the  question  of  the 
coercive  reformatory  education  of  neglected  children,  it  is  also 
a  matter  of  civil  law  and  local  administrative  activity.  The 
care  of  youthful  criminals  is,  in  the  first  place,  a  matter  for 
the  local  authorities  that  are  responsible  for  the  care  of 
neglected  children — that  is  to  say,  for  the  Boards  of  Guardian- 
ship [see  note  to  page  74],  and  for  the  Poor  Law  Boards. 
The  education  of  juvenile  criminals  differs  but  little  from 
the  education  of  the  children  cared  for  by  the  Poor  Law 
authorities ;  and  thus  the  question  arises  whether  the  care 
of  juvenile    criminals    necessitates    the    existence    of  ad  hoc 


Crimmality  in   Youth  235 

boards  to  administer  this  special  department  of  tlae  criminal 
law. 

Since  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  it  has  been 
the  tendency  to  send  troublesome  juveniles  to  institutions ; 
and  at  the  outset  they  were  sent  to  poorhouses  and  work- 
houses to  mingle  with  adult  vagabonds  and  prostitutes.  Not 
until  towards  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  did  people  begin 
to  recognise  that  it  was  essential  to  separate  heterogeneous 
elements.  But  even  at  the  present  day,  in  many  countries, 
reformatories  are  so  far  from  being  worthy  of  their  name  that, 
like  prisons,  they  are  schools  of  corruption.  Many  reformatories 
have  still  the  aspect  and  the  organisation  of  barracks.  In  such 
places  the  children  are  subjected  to  a  rigid  discipline.  They 
are  managed  very  strictly,  and  yet  the  children  are  in  some 
respects  better  off  than  free  workers  of  the  same  age;  they 
are  compelled  to  be  diligent,  clean,  and  healthy.  But  their 
life  is  not  truly  living.  The  children  receive  instruction,  but 
no  real  education.  They  work,  but  acquire  no  love  for  work. 
When  they  are  discharged  from  the  reformatory  they  are  even 
less  inclined  to  work  than  they  were  when  they  entered  the 
institution;  they  are  further  corrupted,  they  renew  outside 
the  unwholesome  friendships  they  have  contracted  within  the 
walls,  and  commonly  carry  out,  after  they  leave,  the  crimes 
they  have  learned  and  planned  during  their  stay  at  the 
"  reformatory." 

In  real  advances  in  reformatory  methods,  England  and 
the  United  States  of  America  have  led  the  way.  But  in  the 
case  of  the  former  country,  true  progress  in  this  respect  dates 
only  from  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century ;  and  in  the 
case  of  the  latter  country,  only  from  the  year  1870.  In  other 
countries,  even  to-day,  sound  ideas  have  found  in  this  matter 
but  little  application.  This  slow  progress  probably  depends 
upon  the  difficulty  of  getting  rid  of  the  influence  of  the  older 
legal  theories,  and  upon  the  difficulty  of  assimilating  the  idea 
that  a  reformatory  must  be  something  totally  different  from  a 
prison. 

Institutional  Education  versus  Family  Education. — Which  is 
preferable,  institutional  education  or  family  education  ?  There 
is  much  to  be  said  on  both  sides  of  this  question.     Unques- 


236  Elements  of  Chi/d- Protection 

tionably,  in  the  case  of  juvenile  criminals  and  neglected  chil- 
dren the  advantages  of  family  care  are  less  conspicuous  than 
they  are  in  the  case  of  abandoned  children.  The  accumu- 
lation, under  one  roof,  of  children  of  the  former  categories  in- 
volves the  close  approximation  of  numerous  injurious  germs, 
which  would  less  readily  develop  if  they  were  dispersed. 
Moreover,  for  such  children  it  is  even  harder  to  find  suit- 
able foster-parents  than  it  is  for  those  who  are  simply  aban- 
doned. Few  are  willing  to  undertake  the  difficult  task  of 
bringing  up  such  children,  and  fewer  foster-parents  still  are 
in  a  position  to  give  them  a  suitable  upbringing.  The  strict 
handling  they  require  is  much  easier  to  enforce  in  an  insti- 
tution or  a  colony  than  in  an  ordinary  family.  There  is 
often  good  reason  to  be  afraid  that  the  juvenile  criminal 
or  neglected  child,  if  boarded  with  a  family,  will  corrupt  the 
younger  members  of  that  family. 

The  problem  must  therefore  be  solved  on  the  following 
lines :  In  every  case  there  should  be  a  thorough  medical 
examination  of  the  child,  and  a  careful  study  of  its  educa- 
tional acquirements  and  capacities,  and  upon  the  results  of 
this  examination  should  be  based  the  decision  whether  this 
particular  child  can  best  be  dealt  with  in  an  institution  or 
in  a  family.  In  making  our  decision  we  should  never  lose 
sight  of  the  principle  that,  except  in  the  case  of  the  really  bad 
children,  the  advantages  of  a  family  education  should  as 
far  as  possible  be  given.  Only  in  the  case  of  children  with 
obstinate  and  unconquerable  criminal  tendencies  is  continuous 
institutional  care  essential;  for  abnormal  children,  prolonged 
curative  educational  treatment  is  requisite,  as  far  as  possible, 
in  institutions  or  colonies  founded  especially  for  this  purpose. 
The  educational  institution  should  be  a  place  in  which  the 
pupils  undergo  a  thorough  bodily  and  mental  cleansing  pro- 
cess. When  this  has  been  efi^ected,  as  soon  as  we  have  a 
right  to  assume  that  the  child  could  be  received  as  an  inmate 
by  an  ordinary  family  without  endangering  the  other  children, 
then  the  sooner  the  child  is  removed  from  the  unnatural  life 
of  the  institution  to  the  natural  life  of  the  family,  the  better 
will  be  its  chances  for  the  future.  A  reformatory  institution 
which  is  to  attain  its  ends  must  have  characteristics  resembling 


Criminality  in   Youth  237 

those  of  a  modern  foundling  hospital.  It  must  be  a  place 
at  which  those  children  who,  for  one  reason  or  another,  have 
to  leave  their  foster-parents,  can  be  received  and  cared  for 
while  another  suitable  home  is  being  found  for  them ;  it  must 
be  the  centre  of  supervision  of  the  children  placed  in  family 
care.  It  is  true  that  at  a  reformatory  a  child  is  deprived 
of  personal  liberty  and  remains  in  the  institution  under  com- 
pulsion, but  the  aim  of  the  reformatory  is  very  different  from 
that  of  the  prison.  The  reformatory  should  resemble,  not  a 
barrack,  but  a  family — that  is  to  say,  the  barrack  system 
(collective  system)  must  find  no  place  in  the  reformatory. 
The  institutional  life  must  be  as  free  as  possible,  and  the 
child  must  be  treated  as  a  member  of  a  family. 

Individual  treatment  and  classification  of  the  children 
are  of  great  importance.  Special  institutions  are  requisite 
for  older  children  and  younger  children,  for  those  who  are 
more  and  those  who  are  less  corrupt,  for  those  who  need  mild 
and  for  those  who  need  strict  treatment.  In  accordance  with 
this  classification,  the  children  must  be  distributed  in  the 
various  separate  institutions.  Unimprovable  children  should 
not  be  received  at  all,  for  not  only  can  we  do  them  no  good, 
but  their  presence  is  harmful  to  the  other  children.  It  is 
also  necessary  that  there  should  be  special  institutions  for 
observation  purposes,  to  enable  us  to  decide  which  of  the 
other  institutions  is  best  adapted  for  the  treatment  of  indi- 
vidual cases.  When  they  first  enter  the  observational  institu- 
tion, children  should  be  isolated  for  a  while,  until  they  can  be 
sent  to  an  appropriate  section.  In  former  times,  grave  mis- 
takes were  made  in  this  matter  of  individualisation.  Routine 
treatment  and  equality  of  punishment  for  all  similar  offences 
were  justified  with  reference  to  the  principle  of  equality  before 
the  law.  Even  to-day,  children  still  at  times  are  thrust  into 
contact  with  the  most  dangerous  elements,  and  even  with  the 
refuse  of  human  society,  although  this  happens  much  less 
often  in  reformatory  institutions  than  in  police  cells,  local 
prisons,  or  workhouses.  But  in  general,  and  especially  in 
England,  France,  and  the  United  States  of  America,  great 
stress  is  now  laid  upon  proper  individualisation.  In  Eng- 
land, above  all,  do  we  find  the  attempt  made  to  secure  that 


238  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

all  the  younger  children  should  be  sent  to  industrial  schools, 
and  all  the  older  children  to  reformatory  institutions. 

The  aim  of  the  reformatory  is  to  improve  the  child.  This 
is  equivalent  to  an  endeavour  to  produce  in  the  child  an 
independent  spirit,  and  a  capacity  to  provide  for  itself  in  a 
free  life.  This  can  be  done  only  by  leaving  the  child  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  freedom,  by  cultivating  its  self-respect,  and 
by  doing  all  in  our  power  to  put  it  upon  its  mettle.  He 
only  will  be  able  to  make  his  living  who  possesses  some 
definite  capacity  and  is  willing  to  work.  For  this  reason, 
the  institution  must  take  every  care,  not  merely  to  accus- 
tom the  child  to  work  in  general,  but  also  to  render  it  com- 
petent in  some  particular  handicraft.  Hence  the  child's 
occupation  in  the  institution  must  not  be  either  useless  or 
depressing  in  character,  nor  must  it  be  of  such  a  kind  as 
only  an  adult  can  do  properly ;  it  must  be  one  suited  to  the 
powers  and  capacities  of  the  child.  In  the  older  institutions, 
which  were  badly  conducted,  the  pupils  were  engaged  in  use- 
less and  mind-destroying  occupations.  Owing  to  the  fact 
that  these  institutions  were  inadequately  supplied  with  funds, 
the  work  done  was  chosen,  not  because  it  was  of  any  value 
to  the  inmates,  but  simply  because  it  could  provide  a  con- 
tribution to  the  expenses  of  maintenance.  Unfortunately, 
even  at  the  present  day,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  withm  the 
rights  of  the  State  that  a  part  of  the  expenditure  upon  the 
inmates  should  be  provided  by  the  utilisation  of  their  labour- 
power,  far  too  much  stress  is  laid  upon  attempts  to  make  such 
institutions  "  self-supporting." 

The  school  instruction  in  reformatories  should,  in  general, 
resemble  that  which  is  given  by  the  State  to  normal  children 
outside.  The  main  points  are,  to  provide  a  suitable  elemen- 
tary education,  and  to  devote  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  the 
care  of  the  body.  The  most  difficult  class  to  deal  with  m 
reformatories  is  that  of  the  habitual  vagrants. 

Testing  Reform. — How  can  the  improvement  we  hope  to 
effect  in  the  reformatory  best  be  tested,  and  how  can  we  best 
prepare  for  the  transition  into  a  free  life  ?  In  view  of  the 
fact  that  these  problems  have  been  most  completely  solved  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  it  will  suffice  here  to  describe 


Criminality  in   Youth  239 

the  systems  in  vogue  in  that  country.  The  indispensable 
preliminary  to  a  successful  reformatory  education  is  the 
indeterminate  sentence.  The  child  will  not  leave  the  re- 
formatory (presuming  that  the  stipulated  maximum  term 
has  not  been  attained)  to  assume  the  full  responsibilities  of 
freedom,  until  it  has  satisfactorily  responded  to  the  test  of  a 
probationary  freedom.  When  it  first  enters  the  reformatory 
the  child  is  apathetic.  But  before  long  it  becomes  aware  of 
the  significance  of  the  indeterminate  sentence;  it  perceives 
that  it  will  not  obtain  its  discharge  until  it  has  improved ; 
and  this  induces  a  condition  of  nervous,  yet  salutary,  tension 
and  disquiet.  The  indeterminate  sentence  thus  exercises 
upon  the  child  a  powerful  influence,  laying  its  fate  to  some 
extent  in  its  own  hands,  making  hope  in  place  of  fear  the 
most  effective  element  of  its  thought,  and  awakening  the 
desire  to  effect  improvement  by  means  of  its  own  efforts. 

We  must  not  overlook  the  possibility  that  those  who  may 
secure  their  discharge  before  they  have  served  the  maximum 
term  of  their  sentence  may  not  necessarily  be  those  who  have 
truly  and  completely  reformed,  but  those  who  possess  the 
greatest  power  of  adaptation  to  the  conditions  necessary  to 
secure  their  release. 

A  system  which  in  various  forms  constitutes  an  almost 
universal  feature  in  the  conduct  of  American  reformatories  is 
known  as  the  "  mark  system,"  or  "  merit  system."  The 
nature  of  this  system  is  that  every  inmate  is  able,  by 
earning  a  certain  number  of  good  marks,  allotted  on  account 
of  general  good  behaviour,  and  of  progress  in  the  school  and 
the  workshop  respectively,  to  earn  his  release  upon  probation. 
The  numerical  formalism  of  this  system  is  counteracted  by  an 
individual  consideration  and  treatment  of  the  pupils. 

In  the  reformatory,  we  may  endeavour  to  effect  an  improve- 
ment, and  may  hope  that  we  have  done  so ;  but  it  is  impossible 
to  be  certain  that  this  end  has  been  attained.  While  the 
child  remains  in  the  institution,  no  one  can  tell  if  it  has 
acquired  the  power  of  overcoming  the  difficulties  of  the  life 
of  freedom.  It  is  the  period  immediately  following  the  dis- 
charge from  the  reformatory  which  is  the  most  dangerous  to 
the  child.     It  is  upon  this  period,  above  all,  that  it  doj)ends 


240  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

whether  the  child  will  be  successful  in  gaining  a  proper  place 
in  society.  For  this  reason,  it  is  of  fundamental  importance 
to  find  work  for  all  those  who  are  discharged  from  a  reforma- 
tory ;  indeed,  they  should  only  leave  the  reformatory  to  enter 
an  assured  position.  Every  care  must  be  taken,  in  seeking 
employment  for  those  about  to  be  discharged,  that  we  are  not 
increasing  the  general  difficulty  in  obtaining  work  by  over- 
stocking the  labour  market.  In  the  reformatories  of  the 
United  States,  the  difficulties  of  the  transition  period  are  met 
by  releasing  the  inmates  on  probation  only,  for  a  time  during 
which  they  are  not  only  supported,  but  carefully  supervised. 
In  the  criminal  law  of  European  countries,  the  period  of 
punishment  is  at  an  end  when  the  specified  term  of  sentence 
has  expired.  No  such  determinate  sentence  exists  in  the 
case  of  American  reformatories,  for  the  maximum  term  of 
sentence  usually  extends  far  beyond  the  end  of  the  period 
of  probationary  release.  What  is  requisite  is,  that  the 
definitive  discharge  from  supervision  and  control  should  only 
take  place  when  the  conduct  during  the  term  of  probationary 
release  has  been  satisfactory,  and  when  the  duties  imposed  have 
been  faithfully  performed.  The  child  released  on  probation 
must  behave  well,  work  diligently,  and  punctually  and  at 
regular  intervals  report  itself  at  the  reformatory.  Until  the 
end  of  the  probationary  period,  it  remains  under  the  super- 
vision and  care  of  the  institution ;  the  conditional  release  may 
at  any  time  be  revoked ;  and  the  final  discharge  is  not  effected 
until  the  child  has  given  satisfactory  proof  of  its  fitness  for  a 
free  life.  The  child  released  on  probation  generally  behaves 
very  well,  for  it  fully  understands  that  any  misconduct  would 
entail  serious  consequences,  that  it  would  lose  in  a  moment  all 
that  it  has  hitherto  gained,  that  it  would  have  to  return  to 
the  institution,  and  begin  once  more  at  the  beginning  the 
struggle  to  secure  its  freedom. 

Some  of  the  reformatory  schools  of  America  are  governed 
as  child  republics,  known  as  "Junior  Kepublics."  In  these 
the  children  exercise  self-government  after  the  example  of  the 
Great  Republic  itself,  and  the  executive  of  the  institution 
merely  exercises  a  kind  of  supervision.  The  greatest  possible 
weight  is  thus  given  to  the  educative  influence  of  personal 


Criminality  in   Youth  241 

responsibility.  Above  all,  the  trial  and  punishment  of  offences 
against  the  discipline  of  the  reformatory,  by  courts  constituted 
by  the  inmates,  works  exceedingly  well,  because  the  comrades 
know  one  another  better  than  anyone  else  can.  The  reforma- 
tory system  of  the  United  States  of  America  meets  with  very 
general  approval.  In  Europe,  indeed,  it  is  said  that  the 
system  is  too  expensive,  and  that  the  inmates  are  treated 
too  well.  The  view  we  shall  take  upon  this  matter  will 
depend  upon  our  general  opinion  as  to  how  a  reformatory 
should  be  organised  and  carried  on.  In  the  United  States  of 
America,  intercourse  between  man  and  man  is  free  and  unre- 
strained, and  the  standard  of  life  is  higher  than  in  Europe. 
Only  the  improvable  children  are  so  well  treated ;  the  habitual 
offenders,  on  the  contrary,  are  subjected  to  a  draconian 
regime.  It  is  true  that  in  Europe  the  cost  per  child  is 
less,  but  in  view  of  the  meagre  results  obtained  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  the  saving  is  apparent  merely. 

The  defects  of  the  American  system  are  the  following. 
As  soon  as  a  new  political  party  gains  a  majority,  and  a  new 
government  therefore  comes  into  power,  much  of  the  official 
staff,  including  that  of  the  reformatories,  is  changed.  Hence, 
the  greater  part  of  the  staff  does  not  consist  of  persons  who 
have  devoted  their  life  to  the  improvement  of  children, 
but  is  composed  mainly  of  persons  without  proper  profes- 
sional training.  But  it  is  well  known  that  the  staff  of  our 
European  reformatories  also  lacks  proper  professional  training 
in  respect  of  the  hygiene  and  psychology  of  child  life. 

Tht  Radical  Solution  of  the  Froblem. — We  cannot  protest 
with  too  much  energy  against  the  idea  that  we  can  deal 
effectively  with  juvenile  criminality  by  means  of  a  few  new 
paragraphs  in  our  criminal  codes,  and  of  a  few  new  societies 
with  patronage  to  distribute.  We  must  not  regard  neglected 
childhood  and  juvenile  criminality  as  isolated  phenomena,  but 
must  consider  them  in  association  with  the  economic,  moral, 
and  intellectual  neglect  of  the  proletariat,  from  which  juvenile 
criminality  springs.  These  proletarian  conditions  form  the 
starting-point  for  our  knowledge  of  neglect  in  childhood  and 
of  juvenile  crime,  and  hence  for  our  knowledge  of  the  means 
we  should  adopt  in  dealing  with  these.     The  evils  have  to  be 

Q 


242  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

averted,  not  from  youth  only,  but  also  from  the  proletariat. 
Political  care,  which  is  directed  towards  the  saving,  in  the 
narrower  sense,  of  neglected  and  criminal  youth,  is  inadequate ; 
what  is  required  is  a  general  scheme  of  social  and  political 
reconstruction  whereby  the  true  sources  of  juvenile  criminality 
will  be  dried  up. 

The  best  policy  of  criminal  reform  is  the  social  policy 
which  will  provide  a  sufficiency  of  the  necessaries  of  life  for 
every  one  willing  to  work  for  them,  and  which  will  put  an  end 
to  the  flagrant  class  contrasts  of  our  time.  Such  a  policy 
would  involve  the  destruction  of  capitalism.  I  repeat  that 
this  does  not  involve  any  changes  in  our  policy  of  child- 
protection  in  the  narrower  sense,  but  simply  indicates  the 
general  lines  on  which  alone  advance  can  be  obtained.  The 
best  means  for  the  prevention  of  crime  is  not  punishment, 
but  removal  of  the  causes  of  crime.  Juvenile  criminality  will 
not  completely  disappear  until  its  causes  have  been  completely 
removed — that  is  to  say,  it  will  not  disappear  until  capitalism 
no  longer  exists,  and  until  there  is  no  longer  a  proletariat. 


CHAPTER   II 
PENAL    METHODS 

Conditions  of  To-day. — In  all  departments  of  modern  legal 
systems  the  principle  gains  general  acceptance  that  persons 
under  age  require  to  be  treated  differently  from  adults.  The 
actual  legal  regulations  respecting  young  people  are  different 
from  those  which  apply  to  adults.  In  civil  law,  the  minor 
cannot  appear  independently  either  as  plaintiff  or  as  defendant. 
But  criminal  law,  on  the  other  hand,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  it  is  far  more  complex  than  civil  law,  and  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  interests  of  minors  affected  by  criminal  law 
are  far  more  important  than  those  affected  by  civil  law,  places 
minors  on  the  same  footing,  or  on  a  similar  footing,  with  adults. 
This  is  extremely  disadvantageous  to  those  under  age. 

In  the  case  of  juvenile  offenders,  imprisonment  while 
awaiting  trial  involves  the  greatest  dangers,  for  its  effects  may 
be  as  disastrous  as  those  of  imprisonment  after  sentence.  The 
trial  also  involves  very  serious  dangers.  In  the  corridors  and 
waiting-rooms  of  the  law-court,  the  juvenile  offender  is  kept 
awaiting  the  hearing  of  his  case.  He  sees  there  many  things 
new  to  him.  He  hears  the  conversation  of  the  witnesses  and 
of  the  other  accused.  He  receives  advice  as  to  his  bearing  in 
the  dock.  A  public  trial  is  not  in  the  least  adapted  to  induce 
in  the  juvenile  offender  a  sense  of  shame,  or  to  awaken  in 
him  the  consciousness  that  he  has  taken  a  wrong  path.  As 
far  as  he  understands  the  matter,  an  imposing  apparatus  is  at 
work  in  a  fine  big  room ;  the  officials  of  the  court  do  their 
work  in  a  cool  and  businesslike  manner,  and  with  an  air  of 
importance.  In  the  court  there  are  a  number  of  persons 
drawn  to  the  place  by  curiosity  simply,  and  among  these  are 
the  old  associates  of  the  accused,  who  watch  his  behaviour 
with  an  eager  interest,  and  regard  his  youthful  misdemeanours 


244  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

with  indifference,  or  even  with  admiration.  He  feels  himself  to 
be  the  hero  and  the  central  figure  of  a  drama,  and  this  makes 
it  even  more  impossible  for  him  to  follow  the  legal  proceedings 
attentively,  and  to  defend  himself  in  a  proper  manner.  When 
the  trial  is  over,  the  newspapers  are  full  of  his  case.  If  he 
is  set  at  liberty  he  immediately  becomes  the  centre  of  an 
admiring  circle  of  his  former  associates,  who  listen  to  his 
words  with  eager  attention,  and  encourage  him  to  relate 
again  and  again,  and  with  many  exaggerations,  the  incidents 
of  his  case. 

Proposed  Reforms. — Gradually  the  idea  gains  ground  that 
in  the  case  of  juvenile  offenders  the  procedure  should  be 
totally  different  from  what  it  is  in  the  case  of  adults.  The 
principal  reforms  that  are  proposed  are  the  following. 

{a)  In  the  case  of  juvenile  criminals  it  is  indispensable  to 
do  away  with  personal  freedom.  The  leading  principle  of 
our  penal  procedure,  namely,  to  safeguard  individual  liberty, 
is  out  of  place  in  the  case  of  juvenile  offenders. 

(J)  To-day,  owing  to  defective  understanding  of  the 
psychology  of  children,  the  authorities  regard  juvenile  offences 
as  extremely  serious.  It  is  held  that  every  child  that  is 
brought  before  the  courts  is  of  necessity  corrupt.  But  it  is 
not  by  any  rigid  legal  code,  but  rather  by  the  principles  of 
expediency,  that  we  should  be  guided  in  the  case  of  juvenile 
offenders  ;  that  is  to  say,  in  the  case  of  petty  offences,  com- 
mitted by  young  persons,  the  latter  should  never  be  brought 
before  the  law  courts  at  all.  The  objection  that  on  general 
legal  principles  an  even-handed  justice  is  absolutely  essential, 
is  so  far  sound,  that  there  is  undoubtedly  a  danger  lest  the 
authorities  should  refrain  from  initiating  proceedings  against 
the  children  of  persons  of  influence,  whilst  letting  the  law 
take  its  course  when  the  offenders'  parents  are  people  of  no 
importance.  But  this  objection  can  also  be  overcome.  The 
principle  of  expediency  can,  in  addition,  be  applied  in  the 
following  manner :  the  prosecuting  authority  allows  a  period 
of  probation  to  elapse  before  proceedings  are  initiated,  and  if 
the  youthful  offender  continues  to  behave  well,  the  prosecu- 
tion is  altogether  dropped.  In  the  case  of  juvenile  offenders, 
legal  prosecution  is  not  of  much  importance.     The  judge  or. 


Penal  Methods  245 

magistrate  would  need  the  powers  and  capabilities  of  an  in- 
quisitor, for  if  he  is  to  decide  rightly,  he  must  be  acquainted 
with  every  detail  regarding  the  life  and  the  environment  of 
the  juvenile  offender. 

(c)  In  the  preliminary  proceedings  it  is  necessary  to  study 
very  thoroughly  the  family  life  and  social  conditions  in  which 
the  child  has  grown  up.  The  most  satisfactory  way  is  to 
seek  the  necessary  information  from  the  parents  or  other 
persons  in  authority,  or  from  other  adult  associates  of  the 
child,  as  from  the  guardian,  the  teacher,  the  clergyman,  or 
from  servants. 

{d)  A  child  awaiting  trial  should  on  no  account  be  sent  to 
prison.  If  safe  custody  of  the  person  is  essential,  some  grown 
person  in  whom  the  court  has  confidence  must  be  made 
responsible  for  the  care  of  the  child. 

(e)  The  prosecuting  authority  should  have  the  right  to 
make  any  proposal  which  may  further  the  child's  interests, 
including  a  proposal  to  send  the  accused  to  a  reformatory. 

(/)  The  trial  should  on  no  account  be  a  public  one.  (It 
is  essential,  when  criminal  proceedings  are  taken  against  a 
minor,  that  no  other  minors  should  be  admitted  to  court  as 
idle  spectators.)  We  are  concerned,  not  with  the  punishment, 
but  with  the  education  of  a  child,  and  the  matter  is  not  one 
suitable  for  the  fullest  publicity.  But  for  the  protection  of 
the  child's  interests,  it  is,  of  course,  necessary  that  the  legal 
representatives  of  the  accused,  and  the  officials  of  organisations 
for  child-protection,  should  attend  the  proceedings. 

{(j)  Juveniles  should  never  be  tried  by  a  jury.  This  pro- 
ceeding is  too  solemn  and  too  elaborate.  Moreover,  it  is  not 
within  the  competence  of  a  jury  to  determine  whether  the 
child  possesses  the  understanding  so  frequently  mentioned  as 
to  the  punishable  character  of  the  offence.  The  only  reason 
for  which  trial  by  jury  might  be  advantageous,  is  that  a  jury 
is  more  apt  than  a  judge  to  take  a  mild  view. 

(/i)  In  the  first  instance,  even  in  the  case  of  graver  offences, 
the  matter  should  come  before  an  individual  judge.  When- 
ever possible,  he  should  be  one  experienced  in  matters  of 
education  and  psychology,  and  one  whose  specialty  it  is  to 
deal  with  juvenile  offenders.     The  majority  of  criminal  judges 


246  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

do  not  possess  to-day  the  experience  and  training  requisite 
to  the  competent  handling  of  juvenile  offenders,  inasmuch  as 
the  majority  of  criminals  brought  before  them  are  adults.  In 
every  law  court  there  should  be  one  judge  whose  specialty  it  is 
to  deal  with  juvenile  offenders ;  in  countries  in  which  the  law 
court  is  also  the  Board  of  Guardianship  (see  note  on  p.  74), 
juvenile  offenders  should  be  brought  before  the  Children's 
Judge  [Pupilarrichter),  who  knows  the  children  better  than 
his  professional  colleagues.  Criminal  proceedings  against 
children  tend  more  and  more  to  assume  the  form  simply  of 
the  choice  of  the  necessary  educational  measures.  Inasmuch 
as  a  coercive  reformatory  education,  when  not  the  outcome 
of  a  criminal  prosecution,  has,  in  most  cases,  been  prescribed 
by  the  Board  of  Guardianship,  it  would  seem  as  well  that  the 
power  to  order  a  coercive  reformatory  education  in  the  case 
also  of  juvenile  criminal  offenders  should  be  transferred  to 
the  law  court  which  works  under  the  authority  of  the  Board 
of  Guardianship. 

{i)  The  prosecuting  authority  and  the  law  court  must  keep 
in  close  touch  with  all  the  associations  devoted  to  the  work  of 
child -protection,  and  with  the  institutions  subserving  this  pur- 
pose, and  must  avail  themselves  of  the  counsel  and  support  of 
these  associations  and  institutions. 

(h)  In  criminal  proceedings  against  juvenile  offenders,  de- 
fence plays  a  different  part  from  that  which  it  plays  in  the 
criminal  prosecution  of  adults.  It  should  not  be  the  principal 
aim  of  the  defending  counsel  to  secure  an  acquittal  or  a  diminu- 
tion of  punishment,  but  rather  to  make  sure  that  the  juvenile 
offender  shall  receive  the  treatment  best  adapted  to  effect  his 
reform. 

Penal  Methods  in  the  United  States  of  America. — It  is  in  the 
United  States  of  America  that  penal  methods  applicable  in  the 
case  of  juvenile  offenders  have  obtained  their  highest  develop- 
ment. Children's  Courts  now  exist  in  about  thirty  of  the 
States ;  the  first  of  these  Courts  came  into  existence  in  the 
year  1899.  The  Children's  Court  is  either  a  special  depart- 
ment of  an  ordinary  law  court,  or  else  a  Children's  Court  ad 
hoc;  in  either  case  it  deals  with  all  the  punishable  offences 
committed   by  children,  with  the  exception   of  very  serious 


Penal  Methods  247 

crime.  In  many  of  the  States  of  the  American  Union  the 
Children's  Courts  deal  not  only  with  neglected  children  and 
truants  from  school,  but  also,  and  very  logically,  with  certain 
offences  committed  by  adults;  for  example,  the  infliction  of 
excessive  punishment  upon  children,  the  ill-treatment  of 
children,  breaches  of  the  laws  regulating  child-labour,  and  the 
like.  In  this  we  see  a  clear  manifestation  of  the  tendency  to 
make  the  Children's  Court  responsible  for  all  legal  matters 
wherein  juveniles  are  concerned.  The  Children's  Court  lays 
the  greatest  possible  stress  upon  giving  the  accused  an  oppor- 
tunity, after  he  has  received  appropriate  instruction,  to  effect 
his  own  amendment  without  the  further  intervention  of  the 
Court.  But  should  the  o£fence  be  repeated,  a  sentence  will  have 
to  be  passed,  and  the  matter  of  recidivity  will  have  to  be  taken 
into  consideration.  The  powers  of  the  Court  are  the  widest 
possible.  It  can  reprimand  the  child,  punish  it,  postpone 
sentence,  send  it  to  a  reformatory,  determining  where  and  how 
the  coercive  reformatory  education  shall  be  effected,  can  summon 
the  child  before  the  Court  at  any  time,  &c.  In  many  of  the 
States,  individualisation  and  classification  have  been  carried  so 
far  that  the  Courts  hold  special  sittings  to  deal  with  truancy 
from  school,  the  case  of  neglected  children,  criminal  offences,  &c. 
The  judge  of  the  Children's  Court  cannot  expect  to  attain 
any  very  valuable  results  in  the  absence  of  a  staff  of  assistants 
possessing  the  necessary  training.  But  these  assistants  are  not 
educationalists,  nor  doctors,  nor  child-protectors.  The  right 
hand  of  the  Children's  Court  is  the  "  Probation  Officer,"  who 
is  appointed  by  the  Court — a  thoroughly  cultivated  person, 
generally  one  trained  originally  as  a  teacher,  who  has  re- 
ceived theoretical  and  practical  training  in  a  "  philanthropical 
school."  They  have  no  connection  with  the  police,  and  yet 
have  some  of  the  powers  of  police  officials.  It  is  their  duty  to 
make  all  the  investigations  needed  by  the  Court ;  they  compile 
a  record  of  the  personal  data  of  all  the  children  who  pass 
through  their  hands ;  they  furnish  reports  to  the  Courts  ;  help 
the  children  and  their  parents  by  word  and  deed,  both  during 
and  after  the  legal  proceedings,  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the 
Courts  ;  if  necessary,  they  find  suitable  foster-parents,  and  keep 
under  supervision  all  the  children  who  are  placed  on  probation. 


248  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

The  introduction  into  Europe  of  this  American  system  is,  in 
the  first  place,  a  problem  of  the  organisation  of  the  law  courts, 
inasmuch  as  the  Children's  Court  combines  the  functions  of 
an  ordinary  law  court  with  those  of  a  Board  of  Guardianship. 
In  the  second  place,  the  problem  is  one  of  the  reform  of 
criminal  law,  since  the  Children's  Courts  would  be  of  no  value 
without  the  power  to  place  children  on  probation.  In  such 
countries  as  Hungary,  in  which  the  authority  exercising 
guardianship  is  not  a  law  court,  but  a  specialised  administrative 
body,  the  judge  who  has  to  try  a  child  charged  with  a  criminal 
offence  is  not  empowered  to  exercise  any  of  the  functions  of 
a  Board  of  Guardianship.  In  those  countries  in  Europe  in 
which  it  is  possible  to  effect  the  necessary  changes  in  the 
organisation  of  the  law  courts,  and  to  secure  the  necessary 
reforms  in  criminal  law,  and  where  suitable  judges  for  the 
Children's  Courts  are  available  (the  personality  of  these  judges 
is,  of  course,  a  matter  of  fundamental  importance),  the  intro- 
duction of  Children's  Courts  is  possible.  In  Europe  the 
American  example  is  more  and  more  appreciated  and  imitated ; 
of  recent  years  advances  in  this  direction  have  been  made  in 
almost  every  civilised  country,  not  even  excepting  England, 
whose  legal  development  is  essentially  conservative.  In  the 
application  of  these  ideas  we  find  numerous  differences ;  in 
Germany,  for  instance,  several  systems  are  in  vogue.  The 
general  introduction  of  the  Children's  Courts  into  Europe  is 
certain  to  ensue,  inasmuch  as  the  conditions  which  have  led  to 
their  introduction  in  America  obtain  equally  in  Europe. 


CHAPTER    III 

PROSTITUTION 

The  Causes  of  Prostitution. — As  in  every  commercial  trans- 
action, so  also  in  the  women-market,  two  factors  are  decisive — 
supply  and  demand.  The  demand  arises  from  the  fact  that 
to  men  of  the  upper  classes  marriage  has  become  difficult  or 
impossible.  Whereas  in  the  case  of  the  lower  classes  of  the 
population,  concubinage  offers  a  substitute  for  marriage,  so 
that  for  the  men  of  the  lower  classes  prostitution  may  be 
regarded  as  superfluous,  in  the  case  of  men  of  the  upper 
classes  prostitution  is  practically  the  only  available  substitute 
for  marriage,  so  that  these  men  are  led  to  purchase  casual 
and  temporary  wives  from  among  the  women  of  the  lower 
classes.  The  supply  depends  upon  poverty,  which  is  the 
principal  cause  of  prostitution.  By  this  it  is  not  meant  to 
imply  that  actual  destitution  is  usually  the  direct  and 
immediate  cause  of  the  adoption  of  a  life  of  prostitution.  It 
is  rather  that  a  number  of  factors,  the  outcome  or  the  accom- 
paniments of  poverty,  combine  to  place  girls  in  a  position 
very  favourable  to  their  becoming  prostitutes.  The  environ- 
ment in  which  proletarian  children  live  is  an  unfavourable 
one  in  the  matter  of  sexual  relationships.  It  is  one  which 
prepares  girls  for  prostitution,  and  makes  them  very  liable 
to  adopt  this  mode  of  life.  They  are  forced  to  live  in  a 
single  room  with  the  other  members  of  a  large  family,  with 
strangers,  and  even  casual  night-lodgers — a  room  in  which 
they  all  cook,  eat,  sleep,  and  practise  sexual  intercourse. 
The  girls  even  have  to  share  a  common  bed.  Thus  there 
is  no  place  in  their  experience  for  the  sentiment  of  shame. 
In  addition,  proletarian  children  often  form  evil  associations 
at  a  very  early  age,  and  become  acquainted  in  very  early 
childhood  and  in  the  dirtiest  possible  manner  with   all   the 


250  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

circumstances  of  the  sexual  life — with  the  most  offensive  and 
unclean,  the  most  abnormal  and  morbid  excrescences  of  the 
disordered  sexual  life.  Many  women  would  never  have  sunk 
into  the  slough  of  prostitution  had  their  upbringing  been 
a  different  one.  Often  enough  the  pressure  of  poverty  even 
leads  parents  to  make  money  out  of  the  procurement  of  their 
own  children. 

The  great  majority  of  prostitutes  are  recruited  from  the 
class  of  young  maid -servants.  Maid-servants  pass  their 
childhood  in  country  villages.  Even  to-day,  in  some  countries, 
most  of  them  can  neither  read  nor  write.  They  are  not  only 
unintelligent,  but  thoroughly  simple ;  naturally  they  are 
easily  seduced.  In  the  country  circles  from  which  the  great 
majority  of  them  come,  premarital  sexual  intercourse  is  hardly 
regarded  as  immoral,  and  is  an  almost  universal  custom. 
The  girls  bring  these  ideas  with  them  to  the  town,  with 
results  that  are  necessarily  disastrous.  In  most  cases  they 
are  completely  cut  off  from  their  parental  homes,  and  lack 
the  firm  support  given  by  a  well-ordered  family  life,  are 
sent  from  the  country  into  a  strange  and  incomprehensible 
world,  and  live  under  one  roof  with  persons  belonging  to 
a  social  class  by  whose  members  they  are  regarded  as  being  of 
inferior  birth.  They  pass  their  new  lives  in  a  circle  in  which 
the  demands  are  far  higher  than  they  have  been  accustomed 
to ;  imitatively,  they  soon  come  to  share  these  demands,  but 
can  satisfy  them  only  by  the  supplementary  earnings  of  shame. 
By  the  men  of  the  household,  most  often  by  their  employer 
or  his  sons,  they  are  seduced,  and  then  left  to  fend  for  them- 
selves. They  seldom  stay  long  in  one  situation;  and  when 
out  of  employment,  especially  if  they  have  formed  bad 
associations,  they  are  exposed  to  the  gravest  moral  dangers. 
Their  hours  of  work  are  unlimited,  and  for  this  reason  they 
wish  to  live  as  intensely  as  possible  during  the  few  and  scanty 
hours  of  liberty.  Their  legal  position  is  a  very  unfavourable 
one,  and  it  is  practically  impossible  for  them  to  organise 
themselves  in  a  trade  union.  They  form  a  servile  class. 
Their  personal  desires  are  continually  repressed,  and  even 
this  is  but  a  preparation  for  their  subsequent  profession,  in 
which  servility  and  repression  will  be  their  fate. 


Prostitution  251 

Prostitution  and  Child- Protection. — Prostitution  explains  and 
favours  the  development  of  numerous  factors  which  make 
the  work  of  child-protection  an  ever-existing  need.  These 
factors  are :  (a)  criminal  offences  against  persons  under  age ; 
(h)  venereal  diseases ;  (c)  a  fall  in  women's  wages,  and  a 
consequent  fall  in  men's  wages  also ;  {d)  corruption  of  the 
sexual  morals  of  juveniles;  (e)  the  fact  that  prostitutes, 
though  somewhat  exceptionally,  bear  children. 

{a)  The  definite  purpose  of  certain  criminal  offences 
committed  against  women  under  age  is  simply  to  supply 
fresh  and  new  wares  for  the  market  of  prostitution.  For 
it  is  not  only  or  mainly  women  who,  in  respect  of  physical 
beauty,  age,  or  of  some  other  circumstance,  are  of  com- 
paratively little  value,  that  become  prostitutes.  Among  the 
men  who  have  recourse  to  prostitutes  are  some  who  can  pay 
high  fees,  and  therefore  demand  an  article  of  high  quality. 
Among  these  latter,  there  are,  of  course,  some  who  actually 
prefer  experienced  prostitutes.  But  most  of  them  demand 
especially  physical  beauty,  and  this  is  more  likely  to  be 
possessed  by  younger  women  than  by  older  ones.  A  con- 
siderable proportion  of  prostitutes  are  under  legal  age ;  a 
large  majority  of  them  have  entered  the  career  of  professional 
prostitution  before  coming  of  age.  An  adult  woman  is  much 
less  Hkely  than  one  under  age  to  become  a  prostitute.  Statistical 
data  bearing  on  this  question  are,  however,  lacking.  The 
white-slave  traffic  has  to-day  attained  gigantic  proportions; 
the  sources  of  this  traffic  are  supplied  by  professional  pro- 
curement, a  branch  of  industry  in  Avhich  many  thousands 
are  engaged.  It  is  obvious  that  the  young  girls  who  will 
attract  the  attention  of  the  professional  procurer  or  procuress 
will,  for  the  most  part,  belong  to  the  proletariat. 

(&)  Prostitution  is  an  unceasing  source  of  the  venereal 
diseases,  the  character  of  these  in  any  district  being  inti- 
mately associated  with  the  characteristics  of  prostitution  in 
that  district.  The  principal  seats  of  prostitution  are  the 
true  foci  of  the  venereal  diseases. 

(c)  The  matter  of  women's  wages  has  already  been 
discussed.^ 

1  Consult  the  chapter  on  '*  Women's  Labour  and  Child  Labour." 


252  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

(d)  Prostitution  leads  to  the  corruption  of  children's 
morals  and  drags  them  into  vicious  courses.  Prostitutes 
usually  live  in  those  quarters  of  the  town,,  in  those  streets, 
in  those  houses,  in  which  the  population  belongs  mainly 
to  the  proletariat.  It  is  utterly  improper  that  prostitutes 
should  live  in  the  same  house  with  persons  who  have  young 
children.  Indeed,  the  question  arises  whether  prostitutes 
should  not  be  absolutely  forbidden  to  live  in  any  house  in 
which  there  are  persons  under  age. 

(e)  No  official  statistics  exist  to  show  how  many  children 
are  born  to  prostitutes.  According  to  certain  private  statistical 
data,  collected  in  large  towns,  two  children  are  born  each 
year  to  every  hundred  prostitutes.  Many  regard  it  as  in- 
explicable that  prostitutes,  who  have  sexual  intercourse  so 
often,  should  so  rarely  become  pregnant.  But  it  is  precisely 
on  account  of  over-use  that  the  female  reproductive  organs, 
in  these  cases,  lose  their  functional  reproductive  power. 
Where  everyone  walks,  the  grass  never  grows.  Moreover,  there 
is  no  necessary  association  between  coitus  and  conception. 
In  most  cases,  alike  in  the  prostitute  and  in  the  man  who 
has  intercourse  with  her,  the  idea  and  the  desire  of  procreation 
are  non-existent.  Many  make  excuses  for  prostitution  on 
the  ground  that,  since  prostitutes  seldom  have  children,  we 
have  here  a  counterpoise  to  illegitimate  births.  But  it  is 
statistically  proved  that  where  prostitution  is  general — as,  for 
example,  in  great  towns — illegitimate  births  are  commoner 
than  in  the  country,  where  prostitution  is  practically  unknown. 
We  need  not  stop  to  consider  here  whether  the  wider  diffusion 
of  prostitution  would  be  more  desirable  than  the  occurrence  of 
a  greater  number  of  illegitimate  births.  It  is  obviously 
necessary  that  the  children  of  prostitutes  should  be  removed 
from  the  care  of  their  mother  and  brought  up  elsewhere. 

Those  who  regard  every  prostitute  as  a  degenerate  being 
will  reject  a  iniori  any  attempt  to  rescue  them.  It  is  a 
fact  of  experience  that  attempts  to  reform  prostitutes  are 
rarely  very  successful.  Experience  shows  also  that  the 
reformatory  education  of  boys  is  more  effectual  than  the 
reformatory  education  of  girls,  and  that  such  an  education 
gives    better   results  in  the    case   of   girls   who   are  merely 


Prostitution  253 

neglected  than  of  those  who  are  morally  fallen.  But  this 
difference  is  not  due  to  the  fact  that  prostitutes  are  con- 
genitally  degenerate,  but  simply  to  the  fact  that  they  have 
become  degenerate  owing  to  the  conditions  of  their  life.  For 
in  women  a  life  of  prostitution  develops  all  those  qualities — 
laziness,  love  of  adornment,  hypertension  of  the  sexual  impulse, 
&c. — which  make  it  impossible  for  people  to  earn  their  bread 
by  regular  work.  As  soon  as  the  girl  is  subjected  to  the 
supervision  of  the  -police,  des  mceurs,  she  is  for  ever  lost.  The 
supervision  breaks  down  completely  her  power  of  resistance, 
exposes  her  to  contempt,  and  permanently  excludes  her  from 
what  is  called  respectable  society.  For  these  reasons,  girls 
under  age  should  on  no  account  be  subjected  to  the  super- 
vision of  the  police  des  mceurs.  Precisely  because  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  induce  a  prostitute  to  adopt  any  other  mode 
of  life,  we  must,  in  our  campaign  against  prostitution,  devote 
ourselves  above  all  to  those  prophylactic  measures  by  which 
girls  may  be  withheld  from  the  first  steps  which  will  lead 
ultimately  to  the  marketing  of  their  bodies. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PUNISHABLE   OFFENCES   AGAINST   CHILDREN 

The  Two  Groups. — Previously  we  have  spoken  of  punishable 
offences  committed  by  children  ;  we  pass  now  to  consider  those 
committed  against  children.  These  latter  may  be  classified  in 
two  sub-groups.  To  the  former  group  belong  the  punishable 
offences  in  which  the  primary  aim  is  to  injure  or  destroy  a 
child.  To  the  latter  group  belong  offences  against  children  in 
which  the  injury  to  the  child  is  incidental.  The  precise  line 
of  demarcation  between  these  two  groups  differs  in  the  legal 
systems  of  different  countries.  The  most  important  offences  in 
the  former  group  are  :  infanticide,  the  exposing  of  children, 
abortion  (these  three  crimes  occur  chiefly  in  connection  with 
the  birth  of  illegitimate  children),  criminal  offences  against  the 
chastity  of  women  (for  example,  rape,  seduction,  procurement). 
It  is  only  with  regard  to  offences  in  this  first  group  that  statis- 
tical data  are  available.  In  association  with  the  development 
of  capitalism,  there  has  been  a  great  increase  in  their  number. 
But,  according  to  oflScial  statistics,  there  is  not  one  of  the 
offences  above  specified  which  occurs  to  the  extent  of  1  per 
cent,  of  all  criminal  offences ;  most  of  those  named  are  con- 
siderably less  than  1  per  cent.  In  the  case  of  the  other 
criminal  offences,  only  private  statistical  data  are  available. 

In  respect  of  the  offences  comprising  the  second  group,  the 
important  questions  arise,  whether  there  exist  any  mitigating 
or  aggravating  circumstances,  such  as  that  the  offence  was 
committed  against  a  child,  and  not  against  an  adult,  or  that  it 
was  committed,  not  against  a  stranger,  but  against  one  for 
whose  instruction  or  upbringing  the  offender  was  responsible. 
Is  it  not  desirable  that  the  circumstance  that  the  criminal 
offence  was  committed  against  a  child  should  be  stated  in  the 
law  expressly  as  a  reason  for  an  increase  in  the  severity  of  the 

254 


Punishable  Offe^ices  against  Children  255 

punishment,  or  else  that  the  law  should  give  children,  pre- 
cisely because  they  are  children,  a  higher  degree  of  protection 
against  certain  offences  ?  Owing  to  the  fact  that  young  people, 
in  consequence  of  their  physical  weakness,  are  much  less  able 
than  adults  to  resist  aggression,  there  is  every  reason  for  the 
preferential  legal  protection  of  children.  The  protection  should, 
indeed,  be  more  effective  the  younger  the  child.  For  example, 
a  child  of  ten  can  call  for  help,  and  can  run  away,  but  an  infant 
is  utterly  defenceless.  Punishable  offences  against  children 
need  to  be  severely  punished,  because  they  betray  the  existence 
of  a  coarse  and  rough  disposition  in  the  offender.  It  must  be 
regarded  as  an  aggravating  circumstance  when  the  offender  is 
the  person  responsible  for  the  child's  upbringing.  And  yet 
the  criminal  offences  of  parents,  guardians,  foster-parents,  and 
teachers,  against  the  children  under  their  care,  are  often 
nothing  more  than  a  misuse  in  all  good  faith  of  the  authority 
entrusted  to  them.  Simply  in  the  interests  of  the  child, 
severe  punishment  is  often  undesirable,  because  of  the  rancour 
against  the  child  it  would  tend  to  arouse.  (These  questions 
are  of  importance  only  so  long  as  the  practice  continues  of 
passing  determinate  sentences.  The  introduction  of  the  in- 
determinate sentence,  which  is  in  line  with  the  tendency  of 
evolution,  would  render  these  questions  unimportant.) 

If  any  offender  whose  conduct  against  a  child  has  proved 
him  to  be  incapable  of  exercising  with  propriety  parental 
authority,  the  powers  of  a  guardian,  the  powers  of  a  foster- 
parent,  the  duties  of  a  teacher,  it  is  essential  to  deprive  him 
of  these  powers  without  delay ;  and  this  should  be  done,  not 
only  in  the  interests  of  the  particular  child,  but  in  the  interests 
of  all  children.  Anyone  who  has  committed  a  serious  punish- 
able offence  against  a  child  is,  as  a  rule,  altogether  unfitted  to 
exercise  authority  of  any  kind  over  any  children.  If  the 
offender  is  punished,  and  thereafter  the  child  is  left  in  his 
power,  the  child  will  usually  become  the  object  upon  which 
he  will  work  off  the  rancour  inspired  by  the  punishment.  It 
is  essential  that  this  change  in  the  guardianship  of  the  child 
should  not  be  postponed  until  the  case  is  decided  and  judg- 
ment is  passed,  but  that  it  should  be  effected  immediately  it 
is  thought  necessary  to  institute  proceedings.     The  objection 


256  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

that  the  right  to  remove  a  child  from  the  care  of  an  offender 
properly  belongs,  not  to  the  criminal  court,  but  to  the  Board 
of  Guardianship,  is  invalid.  The  procedures  rendered  necessary 
in  consequence  of  the  initiation  of  the  criminal  proceedings 
cannot,  in  these  cases,  be  distributed  among  various  different 
authorities.  In  most  instances  it  is  essential  to  act  at  once. 
Authority  over  a  child,  in  a  modern  State,  is  not  essentially 
different  from  an  official  position.  Since  our  criminal  courts 
are  empowered  to  decree  any  one's  unfitness  to  hold  an  official 
position,  and  to  deprive  any  citizen  of  his  civil  rights,  why 
should  they  not  also  be  empowered  to  decide  that  certain 
persons  are  unfitted  to  exercise  authority  over  children  ?  The 
courts  have  the  power  to  declare  that  through  the  loss  of  civil 
rights  a  man  has  become  unfitted  for  the  position  of  an  official 
guardian;  a  teacher  in  a  State  school  loses  his  position  vpso 
facto  if  convicted  of  a  criminal  offence ;  why  should  not  the 
criminal  courts  have  the  power  to  deprive  parents,  foster- 
parents,  and  private  teachers  of  their  "  office,"  and  to  declare 
them  to  be  unfitted  to  hold  it  ? 

The  great  majority  of  punishable  offences  against  children 
are  committed  against  children  of  the  lower  classes. 

Infanticide. — By  infanticide  we  understand  the  deliberate 
killing  of  an  illegitimate  child  by  its  mother  during  or  imme- 
diately after  birth.  For  the  following  reasons,  it  is  necessary 
that  this  offence  should  not  be  punished  with  extreme  severity : 
(a)  in  the  act  of  parturition  the  mother's  physical  and  mental 
equilibrium  is  disturbed,  so  that  her  condition  must  be  regarded 
as  one  of  diminished  responsibility ;  {h)  in  the  act  of  parturition 
the  unmarried  mother  is  influenced  by  the  dread  of  disgrace, 
and  by  fears  as  to  the  child's  future,  in  ways  from  which  the 
married  mother  is  free ;  (c)  neither  the  secret  and  indiscriminate 
reception  of  illegitimate  children  into  foundling  hospitals,  nor 
the  most  severe  punishments,  suffice  to  prevent  the  commission 
of  this  crime.  (In  France,  for  example,  infanticide  is  punished 
with  the  greatest  possible  severity,  but  this  does  not  prevent 
the  commission  of  the  offence.  For,  in  the  first  place,  since  in 
France  inquiry  into  paternity  is  forbidden,  during  parturition 
the  fears  of  the  unmarried  mother  as  to  the  future  of  the  child 
are  exceptionally  distressing.     In  the  second  place,  since  the 


Punishable  Offences  against  Children  257 

jury  know  that  the  offence  will  be  punished  with  draconian 
severity,  they  prefer  to  return  a  verdict  of  Not  Guilty.)  We 
do  not  find,  in  every  modern  State,  such  an  attitude  towards 
infanticide.  There  are  certain  countries  in  which  infanticide 
is  even  more  severely  punished  than  the  murder  of  an  adult. 
In  the  country,  infanticide  is  comparatively  commoner  than  in 
towns,  this  difference  being  connected  with  the  fact  that  in  the 
country  districts  there  are  no  foundling  hospitals,  and  with  the 
fact  that  in  the  country  criminal  abortion  is  less  frequently 
practised  than  in  the  towns. 

There  are  certain  children  with  respect  to  whom  medical 
science  indicates,  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  it  is 
impossible  for  them  ever  to  become  useful  members  of  society ; 
indeed,  in  the  case  of  many  of  them,  it  is  obvious  that  their 
existence  is  directly  harmful  to  the  species — for  example, 
cripples,  high-grade  cretins,  idiots,  and  children  with  gross 
deformities.  But  at  the  present  day  such  children  are 
preserved  to  lead  a  life  of  martyrdom.  The  greatest  possible 
pains  and  the  highest  refinements  of  medical  skill  are  employed 
to  keep  them  alive.  Huge  institutions  are  erected  for  their 
care,  and  there  is  great  rejoicing  if,  after  years  of  laborious 
efforts,  some  of  these  small  unfortunates  have  been  taught  to 
speak  or  wi'ite  a  few  words.  This  procedure  is  a  grave  in- 
fringement of  the  law  of  parsimony  (see  the  first  paragraph  of 
Chapter  V.  in  the  General  Part),  if  only  for  the  reason  that  in 
other  departments  of  social  life,  with  the  same  expenditure  of 
effort,  far  greater  and  more  valuable  results  could  be  obtained. 
When  such  children,  for  one  reason  or  another,  find  their  way 
into  the  world,  they  should  be  quickly  and  painlessly  destroyed. 
What  method  should  be  adopted  to  attain  this  end  is  a  minor 
consideration.  The  most  suitable  plan  would  appear  to  be  that, 
after  a  thorough  expert  medical  examination,  such  children 
should  be  killed  by  a  swift  and  painless  narcotic.  For  the 
present,  we  may  leave  the  question  open  whether  the  consent 
of  the  parents  should  first  be  obtained.  According  to  the  moral 
conceptions  of  to-day,  not  only  do  people  shrink  back  when 
such  energetic  measures  are  proposed,  but  every  act  by  which 
individuals,  however  worthless,  are  sacrificed  in  the  interests 
of  the  species,  is  regarded  as  immoral,  and  even  as  a  punish- 

R 


258  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

able  offence.  But  just  as  to-day  we  treat  certain  individuals 
whose  conduct  endangers  the  present  generation  in  such  a  way 
as  to  deprive  them  of  opportunities  for  doing  further  harm,  so 
also  should  we  deal  as  seems  best  from  the  social  point  of  view 
with  those  individuals  who  are  useless  to  society,  or  may  be 
harmful  to  future  generations.  As  soon  as  it  is  generally  un- 
derstood that  the  interest  of  future  generations  is  at  least  as  im- 
portant as  that  of  the  present  generation,  that  the  interest  of  the 
species  is  more  important  than  that  of  a  few  individuals  useless 
to  society,  and  as  soon  as  the  number  of  cases  in  which  such 
destruction  of  children  is  desirable  has  been  greatly  diminished 
owing  to  the  adoption  of  appropriate  preventive  measures,  it 
will  be  regarded  as  a  necessary  and  moral  act  to  put  an  end  to 
these  defectives. 

Abortion. — Abortion  is  common  in  every  age.  In  ancient 
times,  amongst  the  majority  of  peoples,  it  was  not  considered  a 
punishable  offence.  Even  in  Christian  Europe,  down  to  the 
eighteenth  century,  it  was  not  punished  when  the  act  was  per- 
formed within  ten  weeks  of  the  occurrence  of  conception.  The 
explanation  of  this  is  that  during  the  earlier  stages  of  develop- 
ment the  embryo  was  not  supposed  to  possess  a  soul.  To-day, 
abortion  is  a  punishable  offence,  but  is  none  the  less  extra- 
ordinarily common.  Official  statistics  make  no  approach  to 
completeness,  for  the  great  majority  of  abortions  remain  secret. 
An  expert  to-day,  owing  to  the  gigantic  advances  in  surgical 
technique,  can  procure  abortion  without  either  difficulty  or 
danger.  In  every  large  town  there  are  numerous  doctors  who 
specialise  as  abortionists.  Even  the  midwives  do  not  hesitate 
to  undertake  such  manipulations.  In  every  populous  resort 
will  be  found  large  institutions  where  women  are  given  an 
opportunity  for  concealing  the  consequences  of  illicit  inter- 
course by  the  practice  of  abortion. 

Where  conception  has  occurred  in  a  married  woman,  it 
may  be  fear  for  the  future  of  the  child,  of  a  lowering  of  the 
standard  of  life  of  the  family,  or  of  the  act  of  parturition, 
which  leads  to  the  practice  of  abortion;  where  the  pregnant 
woman  is  unmarried,  fears  as  to  the  future  of  mother  and 
child  may  also  be  operative,  but  the  principal  motives  are 
the  dread  of  disgrace  and  the  desire  to  conceal  the  fact  that 


Punishable  Offences  against  Childi'en  259 

pregnancy  has  occurred.  Among  women  of  the  proletariat  it 
will  readily  be  understood  that  abortion  is  carried  out  less 
skilfully  than  in  the  case  of  women  belonging  to  the  well-to-do 
class,  for  proletarian  women  are  unable  to  pay  for  such  highly- 
skilled  assistance.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  a  much  larger 
proportion  of  criminal  abortions  are  discovered  in  the  case  of 
proletarian  women  than  in  the  case  of  the  well-to-do.  The 
number  of  abortions  is  comparatively  greater  in  the  towns  than 
in  the  country,  and  the  technique  of  abortion  is  a  more  skilful 
one  in  the  former  districts  than  in  the  latter. 

It  has  recently  been  advocated  that  abortion  should  no 
longer  be  regarded  as  a  punishable  offence.  Others  are  satisfied 
with  the  proposal  that  the  mother  should  be  left  unpunished. 
These  proposals  are  supported  by  the  following  arguments. 
The  existing  law  is  altogether  inefiicient,  for  it  attacks  not  the 
act  in  itself,  but  merely  the  poverty  of  the  doer  and  the 
clumsiness  of  the  act.  The  punishment  of  abortion  is  espe- 
cially unjust :  («)  when  the  act  of  intercourse  has  been  effected 
against  the  will  of  the  woman  who  has  been  impregnated — for 
example,  in  case  of  rape;  (&)  when  abortion  is  indicated  on 
special  grounds  of  health — for  example,  when  the  health  or  life 
of  the  mother  is  seriously  threatened  by  pregnancy  or  parturi- 
tion, and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  life  of  the  mother  is  more 
valuable  than  that  of  the  child ;  (c)  when  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  child,  if  born  at  full  term,  would  be  weakly,  diseased, 
useless,  or  even  injurious  to  society — for  example,  when  a 
person  suffering  from  severe  insanity  or  chronic  alcoholism  im- 
pregnates a  woman,  or  when  an  insane,  epileptic,  or  imbecile 
woman  becomes  pregnant.  (As  to  certain  other  argumentt^ 
which  are  put  forward,  such  as  that  everyone  has  a  perfect 
right  to  the  disposal  of  his  own  body,  and  that  for  this  reason 
the  prospective  mother  can  deal  with  the  fruit  of  her  womb 
precisely  as  she  pleases ;  or  that,  according  to  the  biogenetic 
law,  the  embryo  is  not  a  human  being,  but  a  lower  animal — no 
importance  need  be  attached  to  them.  They  are  altogether 
superfluous.) 

As  yet  there  is  no  country  in  which  these  views  have  been 
incorporated  in  legislation,  but  the  time  cannot  be  far  distant 
in  which  this  will  take  place.     Of  course,  when  this  happens. 


2  6o  Elements  of  CJiild- Protection 

abortion,  if  effected  by  a  married  woman,  without  sufficient 
cause,  and  without  the  consent  of  her  husband,  would  have  to 
be  regarded  as  an  adequate  ground  for  divorce. 

The  Protection  of  Feminine  Chastity. — The  criminal  laws  of 
to-day  recognise  only  the  more  serious  offences  against  the 
chastity  of  women,  such  as  rape,  seduction,  gross  instances  of 
procurement,  and  so  on.  The  aims  at  reform  in  this  connec- 
tion are  as  follows.  Feminine  chastity,  above  all  as  far  as 
young  girls  are  concerned,  demands  much  more  effective 
protection  than  it  receives  to-day.  The  age  of  consent — that 
is,  the  age  below  which  intercourse  with  a  woman  is  in  any 
case  a  punishable  offence — should  be  raised  at  least  to 
eighteen,  since  protection  is  needed,  not  merely  for  the  age 
of  bodily  immaturity,  but  also  for  the  period  of  the  puberal 
development,  the  dangerous  time  during  which  the  sexual 
impulse  is  awakening.  Not  only  those  should  be  punished 
who  have  effected  intercourse  with  a  woman  by  force  or  under 
stress  of  threats,  but  also  those  who  have  effected  intercourse 
by  fraudulent  means,  by  promise  of  marriage,  or  by  taking- 
advantage  of  the  woman's  dependent  position  (as  in  the  case  of 
employer  and  female  employee  or  master  and  maid-servant). 
Procurement,  in  the  legislation  of  most  countries,  receives  a 
ridiculously  mild  punishment ;  and  in  order  to  restrict  the 
growth  of  the  white-slave  traffic,  which,  as  previously  pointed 
out,  has  now  attained  colossal  dimensions,  it  is  essential  that 
any  one  who  procures  a  child  for  sexual  purposes  should  be 
punished  very  severely.  Those  also  should  be  punished  who 
perform  improper  acts  in  the  presence  of  an  immature  person, 
or  who  show  such  a  person  obscene  pictures,  or  tell  obscene 
stories,  or  the  like.  Boys,  on  account  of  their  sexual  inex- 
perience, need  the  protection  of  the  criminal  law  no  less  than 
girls. 

Maltreatment  of  Children. — Maltreatment  of  children  belongs 
to  the  second  group  of  punishable  offences  against  children. 
It  is  rare  for  the  offender  to  maltreat  the  child  of  a  stranger; 
the  offence  is  usually  committed  against  a  child  for  whose 
care  the  offender  is  responsible.  The  principal  kinds  of  mal- 
treatment of  children  are — (a)  corporal  chastisement ;  (&) 
improper  behaviour  towards  children  (in  this  connection  the 


Pimishable  Offences  against  Children  261 

question  arises  whetlier  parents  can  commit  an  offence  against 
the  honour  of  their  own  children);  (c)  working  children  to 
excess,  either  in  the  form  of  overwork  at  school,  excessive 
domestic  work,  overwork  at  wage-earning,  forcing  children  to 
beg,  and  the  like. 

Begging  is  more  lucrative  in  proportion  to  the  degree  to 
which  the  child's  appearance  is  calculated  to  arouse  compas- 
sion— the  poorer,  the  more  miserable,  the  more  delicate  it 
looks.  In  actual  fact,  a  child  is  often  ill-used  simply  in 
order  to  give  it  an  aspect  which  Avill  arouse  more  sympathy. 
Frequently  a  minimum  amount  of  money  is  fixed,  which, 
under  fear  of  punishment — usually  gross  physical  ill-treat- 
ment— the  child  has  to  bring  home  as  a  result  of  its  day's 
begging.  In  large  towns  children  are  hired  out  to  professional 
beggars ;  in  such  towns  as  Paris  and  London  there  is  actually 
a  regular  market  for  such  children.  The  child  employed  for 
purposes  of  begging  suffers  many  moral  disadvantages;  it 
becomes  crafty  and  obstinate,  acquires  a  dislike  for  work  and 
a  love  of  enjoyment,  &c.  The  general  pubHc,  which  squanders 
money  freely  in  almsgiving  to  child  beggars,  gives  without 
thought  of  the  consequences.  It  is  less  trouble  to  drop  a  few 
coppers  into  the  outstretched  hand  of  a  mendicant  than  to 
undertake  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  case,  and,  if  neces- 
sary, to  remove  the  child  from  the  corrupting  influences  of  its 
present  environment,  and  to  see  that  it  will  be  properly  cared 
for  in  future.  Mendicancy  frequently  leads  to  criminal  courses, 
more  especially  to  offences  against  property,  and  in  the  case  of 
girls  to  offences  against  sexual  morality. 

The  immediate  causes  of  the  maltreatment  of  children  are 
the  following :  (a)  Illness  or  delicacy  of  the  child ;  (5)  illness 
or  nervousness  in  the  parents ;  (c)  interested  motives ;  {cX)  a 
rough  disposition  and  incapacity  for  education  on  the  part  of 
the  child;  (c)  improper  views  concerning  education;  (/)  alco- 
holism; {(])  exaggerated  religious  ideas;  ili)  sexual  causes; 
{%)  unhappy  conditions  of  conjugal  life. 

(rt)  Parents  are  much  more  likely  to  ill-treat  sickly  or 
weakly  children  than  healthy  ones,  for  the  former  much  more 
readily  prove  a  burden  than  the  latter.  Feeble-mind  edness, 
moreover,  is  difficult  to  recognise,  and   is  often  regarded  by 


262  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

the  parents  as  obstinacy  or  naughtiness.  It  is  a  painful  fact 
tliat  in  many  cases  the  parents  are  themselves  responsible  for 
the  defective  intellectual  equipment  of  their  child,  and  yet  it 
is  on  account  of  this  very  defect  that  they  ill-use  the  child. 

(?))  Delicate  and  nervous  parents  are  much  more  likely 
than  healthy  ones  to  ill-treat  their  children.  In  the  case  of 
parents  who  are  mentally  unsound,  the  lust  of  cruelty  may  be 
a  direct  outcome  of  their  mental  state. 

(c)  In  many  cases  children's  lives  are  insured  for  a  con- 
siderable sum,  and  in  this  case  the  death  of  the  child  may  be 
desired  by  the  parents  for  the  sake  of  the  insurance  money. 
This  happened  very  often  in  the  manufacturing  towns  of 
England,  until  the  matter  became  the  subject  of  special 
legislation.  Sometimes  parents  ill-treat  children  in  the  hope 
of  inheriting  money  belonging  to  these  latter. 

(e)  The  view  is  very  general  that  the  corporal  punishment 
of  children  plays  an  essential  part  in  the  process  of  education. 
The  child  becomes  to  some  extent  accustomed  to  such  punish- 
ment, whereby  the  punishment  ceases  to  be  effective ;  as  a 
result  of  this,  yet  more  severe  punishment  is  inflicted. 

(/)  Alcoholism  is  a  cause,  both  direct  and  indirect,  of 
the  maltreatment  of  children.  The  father  of  a  family  who, 
in  a  state  of  intoxication,  will  maltreat  his  family,  and  who, 
when  sober  again,  is  bitterly  ashamed  of  himself,  is  a  familiar 
figure. 

{rj)  Maltreatment  of  children  ('especially  by  clergymen, 
monks,  and  nuns)  often  depends  on  the  belief  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  mortify  the  flesh  in  order  to  save  the  soul.  There  is 
also  some  connection  between  exaggerated  piety  and  sexual 
perversion. 

ill)  A  quite  considerable  proportion  of  cases  in  which 
children  are  maltreated  are  dependent  upon  sexual  motives. 
But  the  maltreatment  of  a  child  may  give  rise  to  sexual 
excitement,  not  only  in  the  active  agent,  but  also  in  the 
passive.  Cases  of  this  nature  occur  chiefly  in  the  upper 
classes. 

{%)  In  an  unhappy  marriage,  one  of  the  parents  will  often 
maltreat  the  child  simply  because  the  latter  loves  the  other 
parent. 


Punishable  Offences  against  Children  263 

Ill-usage  of  children  may  be  the  act  either  of  relatives  or 
of  strangers.  Among  the  relatives,  we  have  first  of  all  the 
unmarried  mother;  secondly,  the  natural  father;  thirdly,  the 
stepmother;  fourthly,  the  lawful  parents.  Among  strangers, 
we  have  chiefly  to  consider  teachers  and  foster-parents. 

(«)  Among  children  suffering  from  gross  ill-treatment,  we 
find  a  preponderance,  in  view  of  their  respective  numbers,  of 
illegitimate  as  compared  with  legitimate  children. 

QS)  We  are  always  told  that  an  illegitimate  child  will  be 
horribly  ill-treated  if  its  mother  marries,  not  the  child's 
father,  but  another  man,  It  will  be  ill-treated  by  the  man 
because  it  is  a  stepchild,  and  by  the  woman  because  it 
interferes  with  her  relations  to  her  husband,  and  awakens 
unpleasant  memories.     But  these  views  are  exaggerated. 

(c)  The  role  of  the  stepmother  is  also  commonly  exag- 
gerated. It  is  easier  to  excuse  a  stepmother  for  ill-treating  a 
child  than  it  is  to  excuse  the  child's  own  parents.  When  all 
is  said  and  done,  it  is  impossible  to  expect  a  stepmother  to 
have  the  same  love  for  the  stepchild  as  for  the  children  of 
her  own  body,  and  it  is  only  natural  that  the  stepchild  which 
stands  between  her  and  her  husband  should  be  diflferently 
treated  from  her  own  children.  A  stepchild  is  certainly 
more  likely  to  be  ill-used  when  the  stepmother  has  children 
of  her  own. 

id)  A  mother  is  more  likely  to  ill-treat  children  than  a 
father.  The  father  cannot  love  children  so  well  as  a  mother, 
nor  can  he  hate  them  to  the  same  extent. 

(c)  Many  teachers  maltreat  their  pupils.  They  are  seldom 
prosecuted  on  this  account,  for  many  children  are  unfortunately 
accustomed  to  the  same  sort  of  ill-treatment  at  home ;  more- 
over, the  parents  may  regard  the  teacher's  treatment  as 
perfectly  natural,  or  may  be  afraid  to  institute  proceedings 
against  him. 

(/)  Ill-treatment  of  children  by  foster-parents  is  com- 
paratively common,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  this  case  the 
inhibiting  influence  of  the  natural  love  for  the  offspring  is 
lacking. 

The  consequences  of  maltreatment  are  extremely  serious 
to  the  health  of  the  child,  alike  physically,  mentally,  and  morally. 


264  Elements  of  Child-Protection 

The  child  becomes  naughty,  lazy,  and  untruthful,  and  this  results 
in  yet  more  maltreatment.  The  child's  affection  and  con- 
fidence are  destroyed,  not  only  towards  the  person  who 
ill-treats  it,  but  towards  others  as  well ;  feelings  of  hatred 
towards  the  whole  of  society  and  desire  for  revenge  may 
even  be  aroused.  Such  a  child  will  in  turn  maltreat  other 
children ;  its  will-power  is  defective  and  its  ambition  is 
destroyed.  Actual  disease,  physical  or  mental,  often  ensues. 
Many  children  run  away  from  home  as  a  result  of  ill-treatment, 
become  vagabonds,  and  even  commit  suicide.  The  increase 
recently  noted  in  the  number  of  suicides  is  probably,  in  part, 
dependent  upon  the  more  frequent  ill-treatment  of  children 
during  the  same  period.  The  usual  motive  for  suicide  where 
children  are  concerned  is  seldom  anything  else  than  the  fear 
of  ill-treatment.  (Dread  of  parents,  of  school,  of  punishment 
at  school,  of  examination,  &c.) 

Most  of  the  cases  of  the  maltreatment  of  children  take 
place  among  the  lower  classes  of  the  population.  This  is 
clearly  proved  by  statistical  data,  which  show  that  more  than 
90  per  cent,  of  those  convicted  of  maltreating  children  belong 
to  the  lowest  strata  of  the  population. 

(a)  Among  the  lower  classes,  the  role  of  the  child  is  a 
very  different  one  from  what  it  is  among  the  upper  classes. 
It  often  makes  its  appearance,  not  as  the  greatly-desired  heir, 
the  inheritor  of  an  honoured  name,  or  of  considerable  property, 
but  merely  as  an  additional  mouth,  whose  presence  forces  the 
parents  to  lower  yet  further  their  already  low  standard  of  life, 
and  entails  upon  them  numerous  other  inconveniences. 

(6)  The  lower  classes  are  less  cultivated,  rougher,  more 
passionate,  less  gentle,  than  the  upper.  They  work  all  day, 
and  we  need  not  be  surprised  if  they  become  rough  and 
disagreeable.  The  proletarian  parent  has  not  received  a 
proper  education. 

(c)  Far  more  commonly  they  are  slaves  to  alcohol. 

id)  They  are  subordinated  to  everyone.  The  only  persons 
to  whom  they  can  display  power  and  superiority  are  their  own 
immediate  dependants. 

(e)  They  come  into  far  more  intimate  contact  with  their 
children,  and  are  not  in  a  position  to  hand  over  the  upbring- 


Ptmishable  Offences  against  Children  265 

ing  of  their  children  to  salaried  persons.  In  this  conneton 
we  have  to  remember  that  the  presence  of  strangers  in  the 
house  tends  to  put  a  check  upon  maltreatment. 

(/)  They  find  it  essential  that  their  children  should  begin 
to  earn  money  very  early  in  life. 

The  circumstances  in  consequence  of  which  the  part  played 
in  the  maltreatment  of  children  by  the  lower  classes  appears 
to  be  even  greater  than  it  is  in  actual  fact,  are  as  follows, 
(a)  In  the  case  of  the  lower  classes,  maltreatment  of  children 
takes  the  form  exclusively  or  almost  exclusively  of  gross 
physical  misusage.  In  this  form  the  maltreatment  of 
children  is  more  obviously  apparent,  and  is  legally  punish- 
able ;  whereas  more  subtle  but  in  fact  worse  modes  of  ill- 
usage  are  less  easy  to  discover,  and  many  of  them  are  not 
legally  punishable.  (5)  Owing  to  the  housing  conditions  of 
the  lower  classes,  the  maltreatment  of  children  is  in  their  case 
far  less  likely  to  remain  secret.  (c)  People  are  readier  to 
lodge  an  information  and  to  institute  criminal  proceedings  when 
the  offender  is  poor  than  when  he  or  she  is  Avell-to-do. 

Where  the  effects  of  capitalism  have  been  most  marked — 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  large  towns — the  maltreatment  of  children 
is  commoner,  and  takes  worse  forms.  The  maltreatment  of 
children  occurred  in  very  early  times,  but  no  particular  import- 
ance was  then  attached  to  the  matter,  owing  to  the  sacred 
character  in  those  times  of  the  institution  of  the  family. 

Far  from  being  an  indispensable  part  of  the  education  of 
children,  their  maltreatment  is  a  direct  hindrance  to  a  good 
education.  In  the  discovery  and  the  prevention  of  the  mal- 
treatment of  children,  teachers,  medical  practitioners,  and 
private  associations  play  a  very  important  part.  A  teacher 
is  able  to  observe  whether  a  child  is  ill-used,  and  is  also  in  a 
position  to  obtain  information  from  the  brothers  and  sisters  of 
the  child.  The  useful  work  the  teacher  can  do  in  this 
regard  can  be  powerfully  supported  by  the  school  physician. 
Societies  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  are  both 
influential  and  important,  especially  in  England  and  the 
United  States  of  America.  To  the  latter  country  we  owe 
the  institution  of  Children's  Courts.  In  England,  it  may  be, 
that  so  great  importance  is  attached  to  efforts  for  preventing 


266  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

the  maltreatment  of  cMldren,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  that 
country  the  position  of  the  illegitimate  child  is  an  exception- 
ally bad  one. 

The  following  measures  are  recommended  for  the  preven- 
tion of  the  maltreatment  of  children,  ia)  Cruelty  to  children 
on  the  part  of  those  legally  responsible  for  the  care  of  such 
children  must  be  the  subject  of  official  prosecution.  (&) 
Parents  who  maltreat  their  own  children  must  at  once  be 
deprived  of  their  parental  authority,  for  unless  this  is  done, 
after  they  have  been  punished,  the  parents  will  be  likely  to 
maltreat  the  child  more  than  ever,  merely  taking  more  care 
to  avoid  discovery,  (c)  It  should  be  made  the  legal  duty  of 
anyone  who  becomes  aware  of  a  case  of  cruelty  to  a  child  to 
lodge  official  information  without  delay. 

Children  are  not  in  a  position  to  protect  themselves 
against  adults,  nor  are  they  able  on  their  own  account  to 
initiate  proceedings  against  anyone  who  has  misused  them. 
This  difficulty  is  especially  great  when  the  offender  is  one 
upon  whom  the  child  is  legally  dependent. 

Suggested  Reforms. — Recently  the  necessity  has  been  recog- 
nised that  many  off'ences  against  children  should  be  punished 
much  more  severely  than  they  now  are,  and  that  many  acts 
not  otherwise  punishable  should  be  made  punishable  if 
committed  asrainst  a  child. 

{a)  It  is  suggested  that  a  new  criminal  offence  should  be 
defined  in  the  following  terms: — "A  parent,  1,  who,  although 
possessed  of  the  requisite  means,  fails,  wilfully  or  neglectfully, 
to  provide  for  the  child's  proper  maintenance ;  2,  who,  in 
consequence  of  a  disorderly  life,  is  rendered  unable  to  provide 
for  the  proper  support  of  his  child ;  3,  who  neglects  his  child — 
shall  be  punished  in  the  following  manner.  ...  A  guardian 
or  a  foster-parent  shall  have  the  same  liabilities  to  punishment 
under  this  clause  as  the  real  parents  of  a  child." 

(b)  It  is  suggested  that,  in  the  case  of  off'ences  against  the 
laws  regulating  child-labour,  the  criminal  legal  authorities,  and 
not  the  local  authorities,  should  have  the  right  of  intervention, 
that  in  the  case  of  the  graver  breaches  of  these  laws,  the 
offence  should  be  regarded,  not  as  a  petty  offence,  but  as  a 
misdemeanour,  or  as  a  crime,  and  that,  for  this  reason,  the 


Punishable  Offences  against  Childi'en  267 

description   of  these   offences  should  be  incorporated  in  the 
criminal  code. 

(c)  It  is  suggested  that  the  employment  of  children  in 
mendicancy,  vagabondage,  &c.,  which  is  at  present  treated  as 
a  petty  offence  merely,  should  be  constituted  a  misdemeanour. 

(r/)  It  is  proposed  to  make  it  a  punishable  offence  to  supply, 
or  cause  to  be  supplied,  in  a  public  place,  to  any  juvenile, 
alcoholic  drinks  whereby  that  juvenile  becomes  intoxicated. 

ie)  As  regards  the  sale  of  tobacco,  similar  legal  provisions 
are  considered  desirable. 

(/)  It  is  suggested  that  parents  should  be  severely  punished, 
when  in  the  case  of  one  of  their  children  being  ill  they  fail  to 
summon  medical  advice,  or  when  they  send  the  child  to  school 
suffering  from  one  of  the  acute  infectious  disorders,  or  from 
a  house  in  which  any  such  disorder  prevails. 

With  regard  to  the  first  recommendation  (a),  people  begin 
to  recognise  that  a  misuse  of  the  rights  and  powers  involved 
in  parental  authority  must  be  visited,  not  by  private  condem- 
nation only,  but  by  that  of  the  criminal  law.  It  is  seen  that 
the  standpoint  of  the  existing  law,  by  which  only  the  gravest 
offences,  such  as  the  abduction  of  a  child,  or  the  infliction 
upon  a  child  of  grievous  bodily  harm,  are  specified  as  punish- 
able, is  inadequate.  Ever  more  general  becomes  the  demand 
that  parental  neglect  of  the  proper  maintenance  or  education 
of  a  child  should  be  constituted  an  offence  ipcr  sc,  and  dealt 
with  as  such.  It  is  only  in  the  case  specified  in  {a)  1  that 
deliberate  or  gross  neglect  constitutes  the  essential  quality  of 
the  offence.  (If  all  cases  of  neglect  were  punishable,  the 
provision  {a)  1  would  operate  chiefly  against  offenders  of  the 
lower  classes,  since  it  is  in  their  case  that  such  neglect  most 
commonly  occurs.)  In  {a)  2  deliberate  or  gross  neglect  is  no 
essential  part  of  the  offence,  because  the  idler,  the  man  led 
astray  by  his  passions,  &c.,  should  not  escape  punishment.  In 
(«)  3  simple  neglect  is  made  punishable,  because  in  such  cases 
the  community  becomes  responsible  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  child.  Nothing  must  be  done  to  encourage  what  is  really 
quite  common — that  parents  should  neglect  their  child,  simply 
in  order  that  it  should  be  taken  away  from  their  care,  and 
that  in  this  way  they  may  be  freed  from  the  burden  of  its 


268  Elements  of  Child- Protection 

maintenance.  It  is  essential  that  no  complaint  by  the  injured 
party  or  his  representatives  should  be  requisite  to  the  initiation 
of  a  prosecution,  for  in  most  cases  the  child  is  itself  unable 
to  complain,  and  the  legal  representative  is  often  the  prime 
offender.  Moreover,  it  is  not  the  child  alone  that  is  injured, 
but  also  the  State,  which  has  entrusted  the  offender  with  the 
care  of  the  child. 

The  objection  has  been  raised  that  such  legal  provisions 
as  have  been  suggested  would  be  directed  principally  against 
the  lower  classes,  that  they  would  often  lead  to  the  unjust 
infliction  of  punishment,  that  no  one  can  be  compelled  to  love 
another,  and  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  determine  the  precise 
point  at  which  the  proper  limits  of  parental  authority  had 
been  exceeded.  But  all  these  objections  are  invalid,  if  only 
the  gross  cases  that  have  been  mentioned  are  made  punishable, 
and  provided  that  wherever  necessary  the  child  is  removed 
from  the  care  of  the  offender. 

With  regard  to  (&),  it  is  altogether  disproportionate  that 
the  most  trifling  bodily  injury  to  a  child  should  be  legally 
punishable  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  criminal  courts, 
whilst  one  who  inflicts  a  far  more  severe  injury  upon  a  child 
by  forcing  it  to  perform  excessive  and  unsuitable  work  is  liable 
to  nothing  more  effectual  than  a  reprimand  on  the  part  of  the 
local  authority.  The  local  authority  is  seldom  in  an  inde- 
pendent position,  but  is  commonly  subject  to  the  influence 
of  large  employers  of  labour.  The  maximum  punishment 
which  can  be  inflicted  for  a  breach  of  the  laws  regulating 
child-labour  is  so  trifling,  that  the  risk  of  this  punishment 
is  far  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  profits  the  employer 
can  make  by  the  illegal  exploitation  of  child-labour — especially 
when  the  fact  is  borne  in  mind  that  not  one  instance  in  ten 
of  a  breach  of  these  laws  is  ever  the  subject  of  a  prosecution. 
The  gross  injustices  and  miseries  which  occur  daily  and  every- 
where from  the  improper  exploitation  of  child-labour  will  not 
disappear  until  the  punishments  inflicted  are  such  as  the 
employers  will  seriously  fear  to  incur,  and  which  they  will  be 
unable  to  avoid.  The  employer  laughs  at  a  fine,  for  he  pays 
it  out  of  his  surplus  profits ;  but  he  will  think  twice  before 
incurring  the  risk  of  imprisonment. 


Punishable  Offences  against  Children  269 

With  regard  to  id),  since  alcohol  affects  children  more 
powerfully  than  it  aifects  adults,  it  is  necessary  that  it  should 
be  a  legally  punishable  offence  to  expose  children  to  the 
dangerous  influences  of  this  intoxicant. 

With  regard  to  (e),  for  the  young,  the  use  of  tobacco  is 
hardly  less  harmful  than  the  use  of  alcohol. 

With  regard  to  (/),  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  parents 
fail  to  take  the  steps  absolutely  essential  to  the  preservation 
of  the  child's  health,  and  in  this  way  the  public  health  may 
be  seriously  endangered. 

The  proposals  mentioned  under  these  last  three  headings, 
(c?),  (e),  and  (/),  are  as  yet  hardly  realised  anywhere  ;  but  there 
are  good  grounds  for  hoping  that  they  will  soon  be  adopted  in 
more  countries  than  one. 


INDEX 


Abortion,  93,  118 

Accidents  to  children,  IStJ 

Acquired    immunity,     86.       See     also 

Regeneration 
Adoption,  90,  117 
Advice  to  mothers,  65,  134 
Age  of  parents,  80,  81 

—  productive  and  unproductive,  12 

—  pyramid,  12,  13 
Agricultural  colonies,  146 

—  schools,  214 
Agriculture,  1^6,  157,  158 
Aims  of  child-protection,  4 
Alcoholism,  79,  80,  129,  262,  267,  269 
Apprenticeship,  162,  168,  169,  170,  171 
Artificial    selection,    25-41.      Sec    also 

Eugenics,  Euthanasia,  and  Marriage 
and  Heredity 

Atavism,  78 

Atrophy,  infantile,  50,  127 

Austria,  157,  158 

Authority  for  child-protection,  centra- 
lised, 64,  65 

Authority,  parental,  71-76 

Baby-paeming,  132,  146-152 

—  murderous,  95,  96,  150 
Bastardy    actions,    loose    conduct    as 

defence  in,  90 
Baths  for  school  children,  202 
Beauty,  192 
Begging,  164,  168,  261 
Belgium,  222 
Betrothed,  children  of,  99 
Blindness,  179,  180,  181 
Blind  schools,  181 

Boarding-out,  132,  141,  144,  145,  147 
Breastfeeding,  126-128 

Capacity  for  understanding  the 
punishable  character  of  an  offence, 
221,  228 

—  inborn,  28 

Capitalism  (private),  its  destruction 
essential  to  true  child-protection,  56, 
57 

Care  after  leaving  school,  211-215 

—  of  foundlings,  44,  45,  46,  49,  52, 
53,  58,  59,  61-64,  66,  67,  101,  102, 
121,  122,  131,  132,  135,  184 


Care  of  foundlings,  Latin  system  and 
Germanic  system,  144-146 

—  institutional.     See  Institutional 
Celibacy,  84 

Centralised    authority    for    child-pro- 
tection, 64,  65 
Certificates,  medical.     See  Doctors 
Character,  inborn,  29 

—  of  the  child,  29 

Charitv  Organisation  Society,  61 
Childbirth,  94,  120,  121 
Child-labour,  155-179 

—  mortality,  17-24 

—  protection  after  birth,  121,  122 

before  birth,  118,  119 

during  birth,  120,  121 

for  the  illegitimate,  90-105 

of  the  future,  56,  57 

and  the    population    question, 

3-5 

Children,  wet-nursing  of.  Sec  Wet- 
nursing 

Children's  clinics,  180 

—  clubs,  208 

—  hosi^itals,  180 

Civil  law  and  individual  rights,  depart- 
ment of,  71-117 

Class  diilerences  in  upbringing,  36,  37 

Classical  criminal  law,  220-222 

Clinics,  children's  180 

Co-education,  197,  198 

Coercive  reformatory  education,  75, 
152,  154,  223,  236-241 

Colonies,  agricultural.  See  Agricul- 
tural Colonies 

—  semi-urban,  183 
Community  at  large,  60.  61 
Compulsory  military  service,  84 

—  school  attendance,  168,  188,  189 
Conception,  prevention  of,  8 
Conditional  release,  231,  232 

—  remission  of  punishment,  231,  232 

—  sentence,  231,  232 
Confidential  assistants   to   the  official 

guardian,  115,  116 
Congenital  syphilis,  132 
Consultations  de  nourrissons,  134 
Continuation  schools,  213 
Contracts  of  service  for  minors,  108 
Convalescent  homes,  121 


271 


272 


Elements  of  Child-Protection 


Cooking,     instruction     in,     210,     213, 

214 
Corporal  punishment,  33,  34 
Country  holiday  funds   and    open-air 

schools,  182,  183 
Cow's  milk,    125,    126,    132-134.      See 

also  Artificial  Feeding 
Creche, 43, 135-138 
Criminal  law,  217-269 
classical,  220-222 

—  responsibility,  221-225,  228  et  seq. 
Criminality,  juvenile,  97,  98,  217-242 

—  in  the  illegitimate,  97,  98 
Cripples,  180 

Cripples'  schools,  181 

Culture,  general.     See  General  Culture 

Curriculum  for  child-protection,  66 

Darwinism,  45,  46,  47 
Deaf-mute  schools,  181 
Deaf-mutism,  180,  181, 182 
Debility,  congenital,  50,  94 
Defectives,  euthanasia  of,  257,  258 
Denmark,  215,  230 
Diarrhoea.     See  Intestinal 
Digestive  disorders,  127 
Disabilities  of  the  illegitimate,  90-93 
Disciplinary  classes,  196 
Diseases,  infective.     See  Diseases 

—  of  occupation,  163 

—  of  school  life,  202 
Divorce,  83 

Doctors,  46,  66,  88,  89,  120,  121,  138, 

151,  172,  184 
Domestic  assistants,  121 

—  care  clubs,  121 

—  economy,  instruction  in,  210,  213, 
214 

—  instructors,  186,  187 

—  servants,  37,  169,  250 

—  work,  155 
Domicile,  63,  112 

Ecclesiastical  benevolence,  61,  62 

—  marriage  prohibitions,  83,  84 
Education,  76,  185-216 

—  and  heredity,  25-41 

—  by  parents,  34-36 

—  coercive  reformatory,  75, 152,  154, 
223,  236-241 

—  factors  of,  37,  38 

—  institutional.     See  Institutional 

—  physical,  201-204 

—  sexual,  197-199 

—  under  care,  75.     See  also  Coercive 
Reformatory  Education 

Educational  science,  39 
Elementary  school,  public,  185-216 

unified,  216 

Enfants  assises,  117 


England,  53,  59,  61,  82,  112,  133,  141, 
145,  152,  155,  168,  172,  174,  183,  198, 
203,  211,  220,  222,  230,  235,  237,  248, 
262,  265 

Enlightenment  of  children,  sexual,  197- 
199 

Environment,  37,  38 

Epidemic  diseases,  135 

Ethical  instruction,  199-201 

Eugenics,  25-41,  257,  258 

Euthanasia,  257,  258 

Example,  good,  32,  33 

Exceptio  plurium  concumbentium,  90 

Excess  of  women,  13-15 

Exclusion  of  certain  school  children, 
195,  196 

Executive  instruments  of  child-pro- 
tection, 58-68 

Exposure  of  infants,  95,  142 

Factors  of  child-protection,  58-68 

—  of  education,  37,  38 

—  of  poor  relief,  58-59 
Factory  creche,  137-138 

—  inspection,  172,  173 
Family  creche,  137-138 

—  education,  53,  148-152,  235,  286 

—  schools,  185 
Feeble-mindedness,  congenital,  30 
Feeding  of  school  children,  209-211 

—  rooms  for  the  infants  of  women 
working  in  factories,  137,  138 

Feminine  chastity,  protection  of,  260 
Fertility  of  the  lower  classes,  5-9 
Fines,  225 
Flogging,     230.       See    also    Corporal 

Punishment 
Foundlings,  care  of,  44,  45,  46,  47,  52, 

53,   58,    59,   61-64,  66,  67,  101,  102, 

121,  122,  130-132,  135,  141-154,  184 
France,  5,  58.  101,  102,  116,  117,  123, 

128,  132,  133,  147,  153,  172,  200,  201, 

209,  222,   237,  256 
Free-love,  105 
Future,  child-protection  of,  56,  57 

General  culture,  32,  191,  192 

Germany,  60,  100,  114,  116,  123,  133, 
138,  141,  152,  157,  158,  160,  172,  203, 
248 

Gonorrhoea,  80 

Gonorrhoea!  ophthalmia.  See  Ophthal- 
mia of  the  New-born 

Good  example,  32,  33 

Gouttes  de  Lait,  133 

Governesses  and  tutors,  186,  187 

Government,  central,  61-63 

—  local,  59,  60 

Great  number  of  children,  20-22,  26 
Guardian.ship,  107-117 


Index 


27, 


Guardianship,  official  and  institutional, 

112-116 
Guilds,  155 

Gymnastic  lessons,  202 
Gynecology,  94,  120,  121 

Half-timees,  169 

Health  of  proletarian  children,  178 

—  resorts  for  children,  183 
Heredity,  77-89 

—  and  education,  25-41 

—  and  marriage,  77-89 
Holiday  playgrounds,  183 

Home  education,  difficulties  of,  39,  40 

—  industry,  160,  162 

—  work  for  school  children,  194,  195 
Homes    of    technical    instruction    for 

girls,  170 
Hospitalism,  135 
"  Hospital-marasmus,"  135 
Hospitals,  lying-in,  121,  134 
Household  right,  63 
Housekeeping,  instruction  in,  213,  214 
Housing  conditions  and  child  mortality, 

23 
Human  milk,  125,  126.     See  also  Breast 

Feeding 
Hungarian    Child-Protection    League, 

61 
Hungary,  54,  56,  61,  62,  137,  143,  146, 

152,  153,  208,  248 

Illegitimacy  and  occupation,  99 

—  and  prostitution,  98,  99 
Illegitimate  children,  47,  64,  71,  90-105 

—  sesual  relations,  15,  16 
Illiteracy,  32 

Ill-treatment  of  children,  196,  260-269 

Imbecility.     See  Feeble-mindedness 

Immunity,  acquired,  86.  See  also  Re- 
generation 

Imprisonment,  225-228 

Incubators,  122 

Indeterminate  sentence,  232,  233,  239- 
241 

Individual  guardianship,  108-117 

Individualisation,  31,  192,  237 

Individuality,  31,  192 

Industrial  reserve  army,  31 

—  schools,  238 
Ineducability,  30 
Infant-feeding,  natural,  artificial,  and 

by  wet-nurses,  125-140 
Infanticide,  95,  96,  142,  256,  257 
Infantile  atrophy.     See  Atrophy 
Infant  life  protection,  125-140 

—  mortality,  17-24,  96 

attainable  minimum  of,  18 

Infants'  hospitals,  134,  180 

—  milk  depots,  65,  133 


Infective  diseases,  51,  129.  See  also 
under  Special  Diseases,  as  Syphilis, 
Tuberculosis,  &c. 

Inheritance,  28,  77-89 

—  of  disease,  78-80 
Inquiry  into  paternity,  58 
Institutional  and  official  guardianship, 

112-117 

—  care,  148-150 

of  infants,  135-138 

—  education,  235-238 
Instruction,  religious  and  moral,  199- 

201 
Instructions  for  pregnant  women,  118 
Instruments    of    child-protection,    ex- 
ecutive, 58-68 
Insurance  of  children,  262 

—  of  motherhood,  122-124 
Intra-uterine  influences,  96 
Intestinal  catarrh,  135 

—  disorders,  50 

Italy,  58,  101,  102,  123,  147 

Juvenile  criminality,  97,  98,  217-242 

Kinderhorte,  208 
Kinderschutzliga,  61 
Kin,  marriage  of  near,  81,  82 
Knowledge,  192,  193 
KranJcenkassen,  120 

Laboue,  premature,  11,  93,  94,  166 
Lactation,     constitutional     incapacity 

for,  128,  129 
La  Recherche  de  la  Paternite,  58 
Law,  classical  criminal,  220,  222 

—  of  parsimony,  42 

Laws     for    child  -  protection,     unified 

system,  63,  64 
Leaflets  on  infant  care,  138 
Legal  protection  of    children  against 

consequences  of  their  own  actions, 

106,  107 
Legitimatio  j^er  rcseriptum  jmncipis,  90 

subscqucns  matrimonium,  90 

Legitimisation,  90,  117 

Lex  minivii,  42 

Limited  powers  of  minors,  106-107 

Local  governing  bodies,  59,  60 

Loose  conduct  as  a  defence  in  bastardy 

actions,  90 
Lying-in  hospitals,  121,  134 

Maintenance  allowances,  104 

Malthus,  5 

Maltreatment  of  children,  196,  260-269 

Manual  training,  204-208 

Marasmus.     See  Atrophy 

Margate,  183 

Mark  system,  239 

S 


Elements  of  Child- Protection 


274 

Marriage,  15,  71-89 

—  and    disease.      See    Marriage  and 
Heredity 

—  early,  15 

—  and  heredity,  77-89 

—  and  parental  authority,  71-76 

—  history,  72 

—  of  near  kin,  81,  82 

—  prohibitions,  83-89 
Maternal  authority,  73 
Matriarchy,  72 

Medical    profession,   medical    science, 

&c.     See  Doctors 
Mendicancy,  164,  168,  261 
Mental  disorders,  30,  79-80,  163-164 
Mercantile  system,  5 

—  theory  of  political  economy,  5 
Merit  system,  239 
Meteorological  conditions,  24 
Midwives    and    monthly  nurses,   120, 

121,  138 

—  schools  for,  65,  134 
Military  service,  compulsory,  84 
Milk.      See    Cow's  Milk  and    Human 

Milk 

—  depots,  133 

—  stations,  183 

Minors,  limited  powers  of,  106-107 

Miscarriage,  11 

Monogamy,  105 

Monthly  nurses  and  midwives,  120, 121, 

138 
Moral  instruction,  199-201 
Morphinism,  80,  129 
Mortality,  11-12 

—  of  illegitimate,  94-97 
Mother  as  guardian,  94 
Motherhood,  insurance  of,  122-124 

—  protection,  118-124 
Mothers,  advice  to,  134 

—  schools  for.     See  Schools 
Mutter  schaftshassen,  124 

Napoleon  I,  153 

Natural  selection,  25-41,  45-47 

Newborn,  ophthalmia  of.  See 
Ophthalmia 

Night  work,  156 

Norway,  127 

Notification  of  pregnancy.  See  Preg- 
nancy 

Number  of  children,  great,  20-22, 
26 

Object  lessons,  206 
Objections  to  child-protection,  43-45 
Obstetrics.     See  Gynecology 
Occupation,  diseases  of,  163 
Offences  against  children,  punishable, 
238-269 


Official  and  institutional  guardianship, 
112-117 

—  and  private  activities,  65-66 
Open-air  schools,  182,  183 

and  country  holiday  funds,  182, 

183 
Ophthalmia,  contagious,  135 

—  of  the  newborn,  80,  179 
Organisation  of  juvenile  labour,   170, 

171 
Orphan  asylum,  145 
"  Over-parent,"  State  as,  74-76 

Parental  authority,  71-76 
Parents,  age  of.     See  Age  of  Parents 
Parents'  evenings  at  school,  197 
Parents,  school,  environment,  37,  38 
Parole,  release  on,  231,  232 
Paternal  authority,  73 
Paternity,  inquiry  into,  58 
Patriarchy,  72 
Physical  education,  201-204 
Physicians.     See  Doctors 
Playgrounds  for  children,  supervised, 

208 
Pneumonia,  135 
Poor-relief,  factors  of,  58,  59 
Population  question,  quantity,  3-16 
quality,  25-41 

—  classified  according  to  age,  12,  13 
Poverty,  51,  52 

Powers  of  minors,  limited,  106-107 
Pregnancy,  notification  of,  119 
Pregnant  women,  instructions  for,  118 
Premature  labour,  11,  93,  94,  166 
Preparatory  schools,  208 
Prevention,  42 
Preventive  methods.    See  Conception, 

prevention  of 
Primiparse,  96 

Private  and  official  activities,  65-66 
Probation,  231,  232 

—  officer,  247 
Procurement,  251,  260 
Proletarian  children,  health  of,  178 
Property  of  wards,  108,  116 

Pros  and  cons  of  child-protection,  42- 

58 
Prostitution,  98,  99,  118,  249-253 
Protection  of  feminine  chastity,  260 
Prussia,  140 
Public  advocacy  of  breast-feeding,  133, 

144 

—  elementary  school,  185-216 

—  performances  by  children,  168 
Punishable    character  of  an    offence, 

capacity  for  understanding  the,  221, 
228 

—  offences    against    children,    254- 
269 


Index 


275 


Punishment,  conditional  remission  of, 
231-232 

—  corporal,  83,  34.    See  also  Flogging 
Punishments  and  rewards,  196 

Quality  of  population,  20-41 
Quantity  of  population,  3-10 

Rachitis,  127,  162 
Rape,  259,  260 
Recognition,  90 

Reformatory  education,  coercive,  75, 
152,  154, 223,  236-241 

—  schools,  236-241 

—  system,  236-241 
Regeneration,  86,  88 
Relative  as  guardian,  110 
Release,  conditional,  231-232 

—  on  parole,  231,  232 

Religious  and  moral  instruction,  199- 
201 

Religious  motives  for  ill-treating  chil- 
dren, 26:; 

Repressive  measures,  42,  55 

Reprimand,  230 

Rescue  hoiiies,  146 

Reserve  army  of  labour,  51 

Resident  wet-nurses,  131 

Responsibility,  criminal,  221-225,  228 
et  seq. 

Rewards  and  punishments,  196 

Rickets,  127,  162 

Sanatoria,  183 
Scattered  homes,  146 
School  and  juvenile  criminality,  229, 
230 

—  attendance,  compulsory,  168,  188, 
189 

—  baths,  202 

—  care  after  leaving,  211-215 

—  diseases,  202 

—  feeding,  209-211 
• —  gardens,  202 

—  hygiene,  202 

—  kitchens,  210 

—  nurses,  203 

—  physicians,  67,  202,  203 

—  public  elementary,  185-216 

—  savings  banks,  209 

—  teachers,  172,  265 

—  unified  elementary,  216 
Schools,  agricultural,  214 

—  for  mothers,  138,  139 

—  for  the  blind,  181 

—  industrial,  238 

—  of  child-protection,  66 

—  of  public  welfare,  66 

—  preparatory,  208 

—  reformatory,  236-241 


Science,  193,  194 

Scrofula,  50 

Seasonal  variations  in  birth-rate,  24 

Seduction,  260 

Selection,  artificial,  25-41 

—  natural,  25-41,  45-47 
Semi-urban  colonies,  188 
Sentence,  conditional,  231-282 
Servants,  domestic,  37,  169,  250 
Sexual  education,  197-199 

—  enlightenment  of  children,  197-199 

—  motives   for   ill-treating  children, 
262 

—  relations,  illegitimate,  15,  16 
Sicily,  163 

Siege  of  Paris,  infant  mortality  during, 

127 
Social  developments  of  the  near  future, 

39-41,  56,  57 

—  hygiene,  179,  180 
Socialism,  51-57 

—  and  palliatives,  56,  57 

Societies  for  prevention  of  cruelty  to 

children,  265 
Special  schools  for  defective  children, 

181,  182 
State  as  "  over-parent,"  74-76 
Still-birth,  11,  98,  166,  167 
Stomach  disorders,  50 
Summer  and  child  mortality,  24 
Supervised   playgrounds   for  children, 

208 
Supervision  of  family  care,  150-152 
Sweden,  127 

Switzerland,  117,  157,  182,  209 
Syphilis,  80,  98,  94,  96,  118,  129 

—  congenital,  132 

Tobacco,  267,  269 

Towns,  child  mortality  in,  22,  23 

Training  ships,  146 

Transmission  of  venereal  diseases,  84, 

85 
Truants  195 

Tuberculosis,  42,  80,  127,  129,  182,  202 
Turn-table,  44,  45,  142,  143 
Tutors  and  governesses,  186,  187 

Underfeeding  of  proletarian  chil- 
dren, 178, 179 

Understanding  the  punishable  char- 
acter of  an  offence,  the  capacity  for, 
221,  228 

Unified  school  for  all  classes,  216 

Unified  system  of  laws  for  child-pro- 
tection, 68,  64 

United  States  of  America,  53,  61,  89, 
108,  172,  173,  196,  197,  201,  203,  208, 
209,  215,  222,  223,  281,  232,  238,  235, 
237,  238,  240,  246,  247,  265 


276 


Elements  of  Child- Protection 


Venereal  diseases,  85,  251 
Voluntary  benevolent  activities,  60,  61 
—  workers,  65,  66 

Wages,  158,  159.  160,    161,  166,  176, 

213 
Wards,  property  of,  108,  116 
Warm  chambers,  122 
Welfare,  schools  of  public,  66 
Wet-nurses,  resident  and  non-resident, 

131 


Wet-nursing  of  children,  126,  127,  130- 

132, 146-148 
White  slave  traffic,  251,  260 
Withdrawal  of  parental  authority,  75, 76 
Women,  excess  of,  13-15 
Women's  labour  and  child -labour,  155- 

177 
Workers,  voluntary,  65,  66 
Workhouse  system,  145 

Youth,  criminality  in,  217-242 


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